Holiday shopping is already in full swing. Unfortunately, this also means there will be more cybercrimes and card-not-present fraud. Don’t let cyber thieves ruin your holidays. Use these cybersecurity tips to protect yourself online during this holiday season.
Be skeptical
Cybersecurity online during the holiday season starts with being skeptical. While you’d like to believe everyone is kind at the holidays, this simply isn’t true. While users prepare for the festivities, cybercriminals look for opportunities to scam holiday shoppers with various tricks. That’s why it is necessary to be skeptical rather than trusting.
Watch out for seasonal scams
Unfortunately, cyber scrooges have found ways to exploit the goodness in people’s hearts during the holiday season. Email phishing scams are rampant during the holidays. Cybersecurity is necessary when opening any and all emails this holiday season for this reason. Cybercriminals send fake holiday e-cards with links that are malicious and steal personal information. If you receive a suspicious email about a delivery, do not open the links or respond with any personal information.
Shop Only on Sites You Know
It is important to shop only at sites you know, such as the official online stores for in-store retailers you frequent. If you see a gift item advertised as significantly lower at an unknown online retailer, research to make sure it is a safe site before purchasing.
Pay Attention to the URL
One way to practice cybersecurity online during the 2020 holiday season is to pay attention to the URL. A website’s URL can tell you if it is a secure site.. Secure websites should use HTTPS. The “s” means secure. Additionally, the padlock icon appears to the left of the website address on secure online retailers.
Keep Software Updated
Set computer and mobile devices to update automatically. In addition to installing software updates that make devices work better, these updates also make devices more secure and protect users from cybercriminals..
Don’t Autosave Info
Yes, it is convenient to have the stores where you shop save your personal credit card information. But, it is dangerous. Because if you store your card information via autosave, hackers can access that information. Protecting yourself against cybercrimes is worth the little bit of extra time it takes to re-enter your credit card information each time you want to make a purchase.
Avoid Public Wi-Fi
Public Wi-Fi sounds like a good idea, but cybercriminals take advantage of it. Cybersecurity online during the holiday season means avoiding public Wi-Fi for this very reason. If you do not have unlimited data for your mobile device, use a VPN.
