Keeping safe online this Christmas
Not everyone acts with goodwill at Christmas time so here are our top tips for staying safe online this Christmas...
Think before you click: Beware of emails, text messages or any other offers that don't seem right or encourage you to urgently click on links before the offer runs out. If you receive a "must have" offer, do not click on the link. Go directly to the company’s website to verify the offer and make your purchase from there. If the offer doesn't exist on their website then it is probably a scam and you can report it to your email provider as a phishing attempt. Offers that seem too good to be true, generally are.
Look for the padlock: Never buy from a website that does not use an SSL certificate. SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer and the Secure Socket Layer encrypts the information traveling between your computer and the website you are visiting, this means that nobody could intercept and read the bank card details you are sending. You will know if the website has SSL because the URL will start with https:// not just http:// and there will also be a little padlock before the URL in the address bar.
Create Strong Passwords: For anybody that knows me, this is a subject I talk about A LOT! I cannot emphisise enough the importance of strong passwords and enabling 2 Factor or Multi-Factor Authentication (2FA or MFA). A Hacker or Bad Actor will try to get information from you anyway they can in order compromise any account you have with any website to harvest data, especially financial data. A good way to help prevent this happening is to have a strong password. Now, when I say strong, I mean unguessable to a random person but memorable enough for you. Your password should be atleast 12 characters (numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters and a special symbol). To read more about secure passwords, read here. If a website offers 2FA or MFA as a second layer of defence, don't hesitate to take them up on the offer as it is in the interests of your online safety.
Use a Smartphone or Tablet: Shopping from a smartphones or tablets is common place but did you know that you can make your online shopping experience more secure by using the app for your favourite shop. Instead of opening the web browser on your smart device check to see if they have an app. Most major online retailers have a shopping app and this way you know that any information that is passed back and forth is directly between you and you favourite retailer.
Don't use Public WiFi: I know for me, on the odd occasion, public WiFi has been a saviour, especially when you have no mobile signal and you want to use a map to find out where you need to go. When it comes to online shopping, though, I would never use public WiFi because it is never secure enough. Free public WiFi is full of people scanning the unprotected WiFi network for device vulnerabilities that they can try to exploit and the worst part is that 9 times out of 10 you don't even know they are trying to connect to your device.
Author: Matthew Wilkinson-Foster - Email
