Computer Operations
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6 Steps to Safer Online Business
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| Secure your PC. Your home machine should be running good anti-virus protection, operating system and anti-virus automatic updates, anti-spyware protection (like SpyBot or Ad-Aware), and have a personal firewall. If someone is looking over your shoulders and sees you type in your credit card information, they can steal it regardless of encryption. The same is true of spyware installed on your machine; it steals the information as you type it. Use reputable vendors. Even if the web session is secure, there is nothing keeping the merchant from taking your information and selling it. In addition, these vendors are prone to losing backup tapes. Mistakes happen, but repeated mistakes may mean negligence. Deal only with trusted, reliable vendors. Always type the URL in manually. Clicking on e-mail advertisements may make life easier, but they often redirect to someplace else. There are many tricks to make you think you are going to http://www.amazon.com but end up someplace else. Or worse, have malware, spyware or adware installed on your machine. Not using e-mail as a venue to buy things will also reduce spam in the long run. Always use secure sites. Look for https:// in the URL not http://. This indicates that the session is encrypted between you and the merchant. It prevents people from snooping on the transaction and stealing information. Be cautious of any “security” warnings that may come up when making an online purchase. Make sure that you read them – not just click ok. More attentive users should double-click the "padlock" icon in the bottom corner of web browsers and verify the digital certificate information. Don’t ever bypass an alert and click "ignore". Read the message and find out what's going on, be aware that some messages are fakes and are trying to deceive you. Use a low-limit credit card. While in some countries credit cards are more difficult to get, credit cards come with additional protections that debit cards don’t. Credit cards limit liability and allow you to reverse charges. Debit cards make this more difficult. The big problem is that debit cards are really a cash transaction and once the cash is removed, it’s a new ballgame. Use one low-limit credit card to limit the amount of damage someone can do if that card is compromised. If you must use a debit card, have an account with a small balance for online transactions. Pay attention to your credit report as well as your credit card bills. If your identity is stolen and you don’t complain, no one will know the difference. It is up to you to notice that someone has made fraudulent purchases and to reverse the charges. Watch your bills for purchases you didn't make and follow up on them. Some merchants may catch massive fraud, but by and large it is up to the consumer to realize that their credit card information has been misused. Sign up for a credit monitoring service (where available) and watch for new accounts that you did not sign up for. |