Black Friday & Cyber Monday

Buyer Beware!

You can’t escape from the adverts. The American Thanksgiving sales day has been ported over into the UK as a promise of great deals for Christmas shoppers, many taking to online outlets to beat the queues.

Retailers such as Amazon, John Lewis and Argos are predicting a record-breaking weekend for their online sales. But as with any event that gets users eager to snap up deals online, the criminals are lurking just around the corner ready to take exploit any unsuspecting shoppers.

Stick to what you know (and what you want!)

(responsible) Online retailers have been preparing for their bumper weekend sales with various systems in place to cope with the expected demand, and they should have been preparing for any attempted cyber attacks that might try to knock their servers off-line and replace them with counterfeit copies ready to steal your details.

Likewise, as a savvy shopper, you need to be on your guard and keep the following points in mind.

HTTPS://

Don’t ever consider buying from any website that is not using minimal security to protect your transaction. If a website is not using HTTPS, your financial information is being sent in clear, easy to read text. All modern browsers will show if a website has HTTPS and a valid certificate in the address bar at the top of the page. Clicking on the HTTPS section will show you details of the security being used. If this area is red, it means the certificate is not trusted, so again avoid these sites.

Don’t go searching for new sites that offer better than good deals. Previously unscrupulous types have been known to set up online stores with unbeatable deals on it, with a valid HTTPS certificate, all looking genuine and trustworthy, happy to process your order, take your money, then shut down with the owners disappearing into the night with your hard earned cash. Stick to the sites you trust and have used before.

Last year, in the week before Black Friday, the number of spam emails linking back to known fraudulent websites that included the term ‘Black Friday’ and ‘Sales’ saw a 25% increase.

[Details: https://www.threatmetrix.com/blog/cyber-crime/online-retailers-set-for-cybercrime-christmas/]

Antivirus

Does your antivirus program check your internet activity? Is it up to date? Make sure your answer is YES to both these questions before buying from online stores.

And that applies to smartphones and tablets too…

And that applies to Apple devices too…

Passwords

When you shop online, you’re going to inevitably end up creating accounts at various retailers websites. So how are you going to remember all those new passwords? Well you can either use the same password over and over again (Which is a really really really really really really really bad idea) or you can use a password manager tool (which is a much better idea) and a completely different hard to guess randomised password for each site.

Public WiFi

Make sure you know and trust the internet connection you are using. If you’re in a public space, like your favourite high-street coffee shop, and you connect to their free WiFi, how can you be sure it’s secure? Setting up a mobile WiFi hotspot to spoof well-known hotspot networks only takes moments and could mean you’re passing your details to a criminal and your Christmas credit card bill might be more than you expected.

Use secure networks especially if you are intending to buy or enter logon credentials. Secure networks include your phone’s internet connection via 3/4g, WiFi subscription spots such as BT, The Cloud, Virgin and so on, and your home network.

Buying from an app?

This year has seen a surge in the use of fake apps trying to con users into installing them with claims of being able to find the deals that aren’t available anywhere else. Unsurprisingly, these apps don’t offer the kinds of deals you’re after, they are more likely to plunder your phone for personal information and pass that back to the crooks who wrote the app.

If you’re going to be shopping online via an app, make sure you only download from official app stores, and use an antivirus program that checks installed apps for authenticity before installing them.

Making A List And Checking It Twice

Be like Father Christmas himself; make a list! Then stick to it! Don’t let yourself be tempted by deals for things you don’t need. Workout what sort of present you are looking for and who it’s for before going online then don’t’ get sidetracked (Just like my teachers used to comment; “is easily distracted”)

Need Help?

The internet is great for finding the things you’re after, it’s also good for suggesting ideas. But think twice about just who’s suggesting it to you.. is it from a genuine unbiased source or is it from the retailer/manufacturer whose interest is in selling the product?

#WeCanHelp

Well, we can’t come up with many ideas (unless you want über geeky ones) and we really can’t do your christmas shopping for you (we have trouble getting our own done in time) but we can help you be more secure when shopping online. Contact us to find out about securing your device against the naughty elfs.

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