Senior Online Safety - NCSAM Tip #5 - Online RetailersNational Cyber Security Awareness Month (#ncsam) Tip #5 – Online Retailers – 3 ways to stay safe when doing business online.

Number 1:  Do not share your credit card or personal information via email NEVER.  If a vendor asks you to send your credit card via email, look for a new vendor.  If there are no options, then see if you can provide it to the vendor via a telephone call.  Caution:  If a vendor asks you to send your credit card via email, you need to think how they can be compliant with the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)).

Number 2:  Ensure the HTTPS is present – When shopping online, ensure the browser window is displaying HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (https)).  When the https is present in the browser that is your indication that a SSL (secure sockets layer) cryptographic protocol has been initiated, effectively connecting you to the vendor via a secure tunnel (or pipe) that is not visible to others on the internet.

Number 3:  What info is needed for this transaction? –  Look at what you are sharing with your retailer online.  Do they need to know how many are in your family? Your date of birth? Your place of employment?  Your Social Security number?  Clearly the online retailers need to know some data about you such as billing and shipping addresses, but given the amount of data compromises which have occurred in the past, knowing what you have shared with whom is important, in that manner if a compromise occurs on the vendor’s site, you will know to what extent you are vulnerable to potential identity theft (idtheft).

Online shopping is here to stay. It is very convenient and becoming more convenient everyday. Do not permit convenience to trump your security and privacy.  Take a moment and pay attention to the online retailers, how they handle your data, what data you are providing and your connection is secure.

Daily tips are shared on Senior Online Safety’s Twitter and Facebook pages.

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