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Guidelines for Secure Shopping Online |
Article Submitted by: David Webb
Thursday, 09 July 2009
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With the present economic difficulties, people are increasingly turning to online shopping in order to beat the credit crunch. A comfortable way to browse and compare gift ideas, shopping online provides a more relaxed approach to researching the cheapest offers available in high street stores. Purchasing gifts online provides the added bonus that you can quickly and efficiently compare the prices of your chosen items. Manually comparing prices often yields favourable results, or price comparison websites such as Pricerunner or Kelkoo can often help to find the best prices in the least time. In a difficult financial climate, being able to maximise your spend is, without doubt, one of the main driving forces behind the ever-growing popularity of internet shopping. Shopping on the internet is generally a very secure medium for today's busy shopper, however to ensure a positive shopping experience it is worth adhering to the top 7 tips of safe online shopping. 1) Secure SSL Certificate Always ensure that the website you are buying from carries an SSL certificate on pages where you are entering private information such credit card and billing information. 'SSL' stands for Secure Sockets Layer and is used to encrypt sensitive information transmitted over the internet. Information transmitted via SSL cannot be read by unauthorised third parties, so your details cannot be deciphered even in the off-chance they are intercepted. To check whether the website you are buying from is using an SSL certificate (a requirement of websites which transmit credit card details) simply check the URL of your page for the https: and/or the secure padlock symbol at the foot of your browser window. 2) Internet Browser Updates To ensure a secure online shopping experience, and in general, it is important to ensure your internet browser is kept as up to date as possible. The latest browser updates are continually released to address security bugs and vulnerabilities. Updates are free to download and easy to install, so there is no reason not to have the latest version of your browser installed. 3) Keep Your Operating System Up To Date As with Internet Browsers, Operating Systems are also open to new vulnerabilities, so it is important to update your operating system for a safe online experience. This is of particular importance for Windows based operating systems, which are installed in the majority of home computers/laptops, and as such are more likely to be targeted by malicious third parties seeking to manipulate security vulnerabilities. Today's operating systems provide you to automatically update your software by configuring your device to do so, or you can manually download the latest software updates for free via the internet. Either way, you should try to ensure your operating system is current to ensure a secure web browsing environment. 4) Anti-Virus Software Most of us are aware of the importance of installing a good anti-virus suite, but it is worth re-emphasising this point. Viruses often arrive disguised of email attachments or website downloads, but they can also be picked up unknowingly from infected sites simply by browsing website. There are a good number of excellent anti-virus packages available, some of which are free, so securing your computer against potential viruses is a simple matter of finding the correct package for you and installing it. You should also ensure your anti-virus suite is up-to-date by installing the most recent virus definitions when they become available. Updated virus definitions contain code used to recognise new virus threats, so to ensure your computer is adequately protected it is important to install these updates. Most anti-virus packages normally download these definitions automatically, and Windows based operating systems will recognise whether or not your virus protection is up-to-date. 5) Adware/Anti-Spyware/Malware software Other forms of malicuious software exist, which pose a potential threat to internet users. Spyware and Adware normally install themselves on your computer simply by visiting an unsavoury site. At its worst, this type of software can install security threats such as keylogger software, which can log the keypresses of the keyboard on a compromised machine, and can be used to obtain sensitive information such as credit card numbers. There are a number of very good free software packages which prevent malicious software such as Spyware/Adware/Malware from running on your machine, so it is a wise move to install such a package on your device. 6) Firewall Software A Firewall prevents access to your pc by an unauthorised user or software program. If you do not have a Firewall installed, your computer is vulnerable to being hacked and malicious software such as trojans, viruses and worms, therefore it is important to ensure you have one installed. Again, there are a variety of excellent Firewall programs available for free download. Modern Windows operating systems also include a Firewall as standard, so make sure this is configured properly on your machine. 7) Don't Fall For Phishing 'Phishing' is a widespread security issue whereby a malicious user/organisation can gain access to secure information such as credit card/username/password details using a fake website and/or email. Typically, a user will receive an email, e.g. from a well-known bank, requesting that the recipient of the email update their online information. The phishing email normally links to a fake website created to collect your details for fraudulent purposes. Fake phishing websites are often near-identical the original website on which they are based, and recipients of phishing emails can be tricked into entering their sensitive information to fraudulent third parties. Modern Internet Browsers have installed anti-phishing tools which alert users to of potential phishing sites. Vigilance is also recommended, as banking websites will never email clients requesting full passwords or usernames. By adhering to these top 7 tips for secure online shopping, you can ensure online shopping is as safe as possible, whilst making significant savings in the process. Article Source: http://www.ArticleBlast.com |
About The Author:
The Author is the senior web developer for Gifty Gifts, an online gift store specialising in Fun Mugs, Terramundi, and Edward Monkton gifts.
The Author is the senior web developer for Gifty Gifts, an online gift store specialising in Fun Mugs, Terramundi, and Edward Monkton gifts.
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