The holidays are nearly here! If you’re still searching for the final perfect present, and are thinking of buying online, here’s a few practical tips to help keep your last-minute purchases secure:

  1. Keep your Internet Security solution updated, not just to the day but to the hour! They release frequent updates to make sure you’re protected from the very newest malware. Scan your system before you start shopping.

  2. Don’t shop from public WiFi networks which aren’t secured using WPA2. These networks can be easily hijacked by cybercriminals, and your sensitive financial data could be compromised.

  3. Make sure your system is up-to-date! You should make it a habit to download and install updates not just for your operating system but also for third party applications like:

  • Browsers like IE, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Google Chrome or any other you use
  • Adobe system applications. 
  • Media players like Realpayer, Winamp, etc.

You may use Secunia to scan your computer for dangerous programs.

  1. Check that the sites you shop on are secure! A secure online shopping site will have a valid digital certificate which is used to encryption and secure your online transaction and it will have an icon showing a closed padlock in the bottom or the top of your browser.

The address bar should have an ‘https’ string before the page address.

Remember – NEVER shop on a page which doesn’t have ‘https’ in the address bar:

or if the padlock is open or broken, or if you get a warning regarding the digital certificate of the page you’re on!

Wishing you safe online shopping and happy holidays!