Part 1: Secure Online Shopping: Insights from Hikvision’s Senior Cybersecurity Director to Reduce Security Concerns and Cyber Vulnerabilities
Online shopping is on the rise and the holiday season is upon us, so how can you stay safe and securely shop online? In today’s blog, Hikvision Senior Director of Cybersecurity Chuck Davis provides insights to help you reduce security concerns and vulnerabilities when shopping online.
Pandemic Fuels Growth in Online Shopping
The year 2020 has been strange and challenging for everyone, and as we wind down and prepare for the holidays, an obvious change is upon us. In-person shopping is different and in some cases, non-existent. With COVID-19 precautions still in place, we are not likely to see hordes of people fighting for a great deal on clothing, a toy, or electronics like we have in past holiday shopping seasons. Instead, many will shop online for holiday gifts. In fact, we have already seen a 75 percent increase in online shopping this year due to the pandemic.
Tips to Shop Securely Online
Many people will happily replace the tradition of fighting over deals at the mall with online shopping in the warmth of their house while sipping a cup of coffee. However, there are still dangers that everyone should be aware of when shopping online. Below are some tips to make your online shopping experience more secure.
- WHERE TO SHOP: Shop with reputable companies and websites. Scammers are setting up fake websites to look like online retailers, so make sure you are on the correct website before entering in any information.
- SECURE SHOPPING: Be sure the sites where you shop are using “https” to encrypt your traffic before you enter in any information. To do this, verify that the padlock on the upper left side of the URL bar is closed and not open.
- PHISHING: Scammers and criminals will be sending phishing email to try and trick you into sharing personal or financial information. Do your best not to click on links in email, text messages or social media, but if you have to click to get the deal, be very careful to check the URL and make sure it is authentic before you log in.
- PASSWORDS: Use strong, unique passwords for every account.
- PASSWORD MANAGER: Let’s face it, we all have away too many online accounts to remember all of the passwords if they are long, strong, and unique. So, we all need to use a password manager. If you’re not using one, just try it out. It will make your online life a lot more secure and likely a lot easier.
- MULTI-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION (MFA): Enabling MFA on your accounts means that in addition to your username and password, you will need something else to verify that you own your account. This is usually done by sending you a text message or using an authenticator app that gives you a code which you enter in the login screen of your account. By enabling MFA, criminals are unable to gain access to your account, even if they have your password.
For more on reducing security concerns and addressing vulnerabilities, check out Hikvision’s cybersecurity blog page.