Enjoy a secure holiday shopping online

Like over the previous years, this period is a busy shopping season as the holidays bring mega sales. Online shops like Jumia, Konga, Kaymu, Lunettes amongst others are daily putting out hot buys for the season. Discounts and new items on sale are forcing buyers to spend more. The fact that one is not moving through an aisle, jostling with other shoppers is an added appeal for the online shopper. A sneak peep into the books will definitely show that retailers are going to reap greater rewards at the end of the buying frenzy. Sure enough, must holiday markers are placing orders online and getting it delivered or shipped either to them or straight to the recipients of the gifts. With so much of your shopping activity being done online, how can you stay secure online and in-store this holiday shopping season?
As you browse through the offerings and place your orders, have security in mind, in case you are flummoxed with all the jargons most site offer in terms of security, just follow these tips and it will ensure your financial security and enable you shop safely online this holiday season.
Keep Your Computer Updated and Protected
When shopping online, the first thing to do is to ensure that all your computer software is up-to-date. Make sure to update your system – you can schedule them to run automatically – to prevent potential online shopping risks. Many hackers will try to gain access to your information through exploiting vulnerabilities in software that is outdated.
A web browser or operating system is out of date by even a couple of years is at high risk and is very vulnerable. Using antivirus software and keeping that up to date will also protect the sensitive information you are sending online.
Also endeavor to install a latest version of Internet Security Software, as this can help protect you against other Internet threats such as phishing scams, malware, malicious websites and more.
Mind Your Passwords
Your username and password are essentially the keys to your online accounts. Snagging your password is the perfect opportunity for cyber criminals to access your money and information. Since a lot of online shopping websites tend to store your credit card information for convenience and further usage, it is extremely important to keep these accounts secure with a strong password.
It may be tempting to use the same password for the many, many sites that require them, but that is going to put you at risk. A strong password should be at least eight characters long, a mixture of alphanumeric characters and should never use full words, any personal information such as birthdates, addresses, phone numbers or any other personal information. In addition to using strong passwords, never use the same password across multiple sites.
Do not link to websites through Emails and Ads
It is not uncommon to get myriad offers and deals in your inbox this time of year. While many companies do offer legitimate cyber week deals, email offers are also a common phishing tool used to gain access to your information. Make sure you are visiting a secured website. The best way to determine if a website you are using is secure is to check the address of the website in the address bar of your Internet browser. Secure website addresses begin with “HTTPS” which indicates that the transaction you are making and all of the information included in that transaction is secure via encryption. Another indication that the site is secure is that there will be a green padlock in front of the “HTTPS” in the address bar.
Look For Secure Payment Seals
Secure Payment Seals offer another layer of security to your shopping experience. Look for payment seals such as Norton Secured or VeriSign. These seals verify that the website that you are making your transaction on or through are not only a legitimate website, but also secures your information via SSL, which is another way of encrypting the data being sent over the Internet.
Pay on delivery
This is one feature that you can employ if you are overly skeptical about completing your transaction online with your credit card. Most online stores in the country are embracing this pay on delivery feature. You freely browse through the various online stores, make your selection and place your orders. Fill in your details and voila… the goods get delivered to your doorstep and you pay. But this does not apply to international shopping sites, so if patronizing international shopping sites, then be sure to follow the tips mentioned earlier.