9 Urgent Security Tips for Holiday Shopping Online
The holiday shopping season is taking off, meaning scammers have also revved up their engines. They’re primed and ready to take advantage of all those online transactions.
Don’t forget to and also remind your employees to to stay safe online during the buying frenzy that occurs this time of year. An ounce of cybersecurity prevention is definitely worth a pound of cure. It can also save you from a financial and or privacy nightmare.
Here are some of J700 Groups most critical safety tips to improve your online holiday shopping.
Check for Device Updates Before You Shop
All devices, including computers, tablets, and smartphones that have old software are vulnerable. You may not wish to wait through a 10-minute iPhone update, it’s going to keep you more secure.
Hackers often use vulnerabilities found in device operating systems. Updates install patches for known vulnerabilities that reduce your risk. So ensure you install all updates before you use your device for online holiday shopping.
Don’t Go to Websites from Email Links
Yes, it’s annoying to have to type in “amazon.com” rather than just clicking a link in an email. But phishing scams are at an all-time high this time of year. If you click on an email link to a malicious site, it can start an auto download of malware.
Our J700 Group Techs strongly recommend you avoid clicking links, instead visit the website directly. If you want to make things easier, save sites as shopping bookmarks in your browser. This is so much safer than clicking a text or email link.
Use a Wallet App Where Possible
It’s always a risk when you give your debit or credit card to a website. The risk is even higher if you’re doing holiday shopping on a site you haven’t purchased from before.
Where possible, buy using a wallet app or PayPal. This eliminates the need to give your payment card details directly to the merchant. Instead, you share them with the wallet app service (Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, etc.). But the retailer doesn’t get them.
Remove Any Saved Payment Cards After Checking Out
There are so very many websites (including Amazon) that automatically save your payment card details. This is bad and although it may make the next purchase more convenient, it puts you at more risk. A hacker with access to your device or account could make purchases.
There is also the risk of a data breach by the retailer, these are more common than you realise and can leak sensitive customer payment information. The fewer databases you allow to store your payment details, the better for your online security.
Immediately after you check out, you should remove your payment card from the site. You will usually need to go to your account settings to do this.
Make Sure the Site Uses HTTPS (Emphasis on S)
HTTPS has largely become the standard for websites now. This is instead of “HTTP” without the “S” on the end. HTTPS means that a website encrypts the data transmitted through the site. Such as your name, address, and payment information.
J700 Group can not stress strongly enough that you should NEVER shop on a website that doesn’t use HTTPS in the address bar. An extra indicator is a small lock icon in front of the website address.
Double Check the Site URL
We can all make typos from time to time. Especially when typing on a small smartphone screen. One typo can land you on a copycat site (such as Amazonn(dot)com).
Hackers buy domains that are close to the real ones for popular retailers. They then put up copycat sites designed to fool users that make a mistake when typing the URL.
Please take those extra few seconds to double-check that you’ve landed on the right website before you start shopping.
Never Shop Online When on Public Wi-Fi
When you connect your device to public Wi-Fi, you might as well expect a stranger to be stalking you. Hackers LOVE the holiday shopping season and will hang out in popular public Wi-Fi spots.
They spy on the activities of other devices connected to that same free hotspot. This can give them access to everything you type in. Such as passwords and credit card information.
Never shop online when you’re connected to a public Wi-Fi network. Instead, switch off Wi-Fi and move to your mobile carrier’s connection.
Be On High Alert for Impersonation Emails & Texts from known Brands
Phishing scammers were very active during the holiday shopping season of 2021. There was a massive 397% increase in typo-squatting domains connected to phishing attacks.
Whilst you must be careful all the time about phishing, it is even worse during the holiday season. Attackers know that people are expecting retailer holiday sales emails. They also get a influx of order confirmations and shipping notices this time of year.
Hackers use these emails as templates to impersonate brands like Target, UPS, Amazon, and others and their emails look nearly identical to the real thing. They trick you to get you to click and/or log in to a malicious website.
So please be on high alert for brand impersonation emails. This is another reason why it’s always better to go to a site directly, rather than by using an email link.
Enable Banking Alerts & Check Your Account Regularly
Phishing Check your bank account regularly. Look for suspicious charges that could point to a breach. One way to help automate a monitoring process is to set up banking alerts through your online banking app.
EG. many banks allow you to set up alerts for events such as:
- When a purchase occurs over a specified amount
- When a purchase occurs from outside the country
How Secure Is Your Mobile Device?
Mobile malware is often deployed in holiday shopping scams. How secure is your device from malicious apps and malware? Contact J700 Group today for a security checkup.
J700 Group are a Lancashire-based, family-run, professional and responsive, Managed Solutions Provider helping Businesses, to utilise Innovative IT Consultancy Services, Cloud Solutions, Cyber Security, Microsoft 365, Telecoms, Web Design and SEO solutions to propel their organisation to the next level and beyond.
As an experienced IT Support Provider, helping businesses across Lancashire & Manchester, if you need any assistance with your IT including IT Hardware, a Disaster Recovery Policy or Managed Backup Solutions; CONTACT US
Where to find us: Prinny Mill Business Centre, 68 Blackburn Road, Haslingden, Lancashire, BB4 5HL
