AMU Cyber & AI

NCSA Advises How to Holiday Shop Safely Online

Cyber Safe Holiday Shopping Resource

With prime online shopping season upon us, cyber experts and cyber groups alike have concerns about the safety of personal information being put forth in cyberspace. The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) is among the group of concerned groups.

The NCSA recently published its [link url=”https://staysafeonline.org/stay-safe-online/resources/holiday-shopping-backgrounder” title=”Cyber Safe Holiday Shopping Resource”] in an effort to help online shoppers lock down their online experience and increase overall security.

With online purchases, there can often be much to be wary of. According to a recent NCSA survey, 25 percent of online shoppers abandoned an online purchase in the past year. Ten percent reported abandoning purchases between two and four times in the previous 12 months.

The reasons for abandoning purchases varied. About 47 percent of respondents reported that “too much information was being asked.” Approximately 36 percent stated a concern about not being able to determine whether or not the transaction was secure. Additionally, 32 percent just simply did not feel overall confidence about the transaction in total.

$117 billion in online holiday sales

According to the NCSA, online holiday sales may approach $117 billion this year. With this astronomical number in mind, the group offered up a series of tips to help shoppers secure their personal data.

Tips included:

Secure logins: The NCSA state that “usernames and passwords are not enough to protect key accounts like email, banking and social media.” The group recommends researching the latest security features that may be available to lock down key accounts.

Stay free of malware: Run scans and take best efforts to ensure that devices have no malware present before using them for purchases.

Research sites before transacting: Take best efforts to determine the reliability of a site before purchasing from it.

Be careful with Wi-Fi hotspots: Avoid public Wi-Fi for purchases. Make sure to be on secured networks before sending sensitive data like personal information and account numbers.

See all tips [link url=”https://staysafeonline.org/stay-safe-online/resources/holiday-shopping-backgrounder” title=”here”].

[relink url=”http://incyberdefense.com/opinion/how-to-create-safe-passwords/” url2=”https://amuedge.com/nist-warns-security-fatigue/”]

Comments are closed.