Christmas shopping online…. are you aware of the security risks?

Christmas shopping online. are you aware of the security risks?

Christmas shopping online.... are you aware of the security risks?

It's ONLY 49days, 15hours and 34mins to Christmas!!! Well at least it was when I started this blog, but you get the gist, it's that time of year again. The pandemonium is descending upon us as quickly as the associated bills will flood many hall floors in January.

Love it or hate it, the festive season is very hard to avoid particularly if you intend doing any sort of shopping. It's a retailers dream Christmas, a huge percentage of the population all buying mindlessly at once, so I suppose you can't really blame them for shoving it in our faces before the last apple has been bobbed for... however if you've opted to avoid the total madness of the shops and opted for the peace of shopping online, then take note of the following and don't run the risk of online security forcing you to adopt a wholly bah humbug opinion of the festive season!

Oh Mr retailer how secure are my details?

I love Christmas don't get me wrong, but with more and more people opting to buy their stocking fillers and presents from the comfort of their own home, my fear is the level ofonline internet protection that the general public are receiving when they enter their card details online. The problem is that most people are of the opinion that if the retailer they are purchasing from online is a well-known brand, or a high street chain, that this automatically classifies them as safe but unfortunately this is not an assumption that we can automatically conclude. Therefore it's important to make sure you apply a high level ofcomputer security and that yourself informed as to which companies are publicised as have ongoingsecurity issues.

Security in numbers public opinion is split on online security!?!

It does seem however that a section of the population have become much more realistic about the possibility that even their favourite retailer is not immune to a security failure, if adequateonline security service precautions have not been taken by them, thus relinquishing any previous loyalty. According to U shop safe' a new report has found that 10 per cent of UK consumers will leave their trusted online retailers or banking services, if they lose trust in the institution because of a security breach or data loss incident.

This is quite a positive revelation; however the next part of the Unisys Security Index report is much more frightening,

Eighty-five per cent of UK consumers do not consider online fraud or identity theft to be a real risk for them.

This is an extremely scary statistic and stinks of the, it won't happen to me' idea, not the most intelligent ofonline security plans. Yet on the contrary, the next statistic on the report states that three quarters of respondents suggestedthey would not start a relationship with a retailer or bank which had been proven to have inadequate security in the past. What? Is it just me or does this seem somewhat nonsensical, taking absolutely no action until it's been reported that something's gone wrong?

So what have we learned from the Unisys report As UK consumers the plan for ouronline security goes something like this;

Do nothing because it won't happen to me but if I happen to see something in the news involving asecurity issue withone of the retailers I use then I'll just stop buying from them. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh come on people a bit more diligence please!

In actual fact, according to shopsafe.co.uk,two million UK citizens suffer from ID theft annually, making it a significant problem for the public sector, not the best thing to ignore! Additionally,Computer Weekly reported back in October that Identity theft costs the UK 2.7bn a year, so I think it's fair to say youronline security is worth considering.

In the conclusion ofMiller's report he notes the advice of Economist Benjamin Williamson, who suggested that ecommerce firms and online bank operators would have to address trust issues and plug security holes, to avoid shedding users in the event of a scandal involving a breach.

Even PayPal experiences a security stumble

It's not that using your card to shop online is a bad thing, it's just important to make sure yourinternet's protected from treats such as viruses, malware and phishing scams which are created purposefully to steal your personal information leading to fraud and identity theft or causing serious damage to your computer.

Even online payment store, PayPal which regards itself as, the safer way to pay online', was flagged with security concerns this week regarding its iPhone app.

A report by the Wall Street Journal states that the software was failing to verify digital certificates on PayPal's website, an oversight which could have allowed a hacker to intercept users' account passwords by tricking them into thinking they were on PayPal's secure website.

The appWatchdog service scanned both PayPal's iPhone and Android apps on 3rd of November and the results worryingly reported thatthe iPhone app failed on three out of four measures; securely storing application data on the device, securely storing usernames, and "additional" security tests, according to viaForensics.

According toeweek.com, thelack of security in mobile apps was highlighted recently by a study published by a Bucknell University network administrator, who found that 68 percent of apps listed in the "most popular" and "top free" categories on the app store transmitted personal information in plain text

A PayPal spokesperson said the firm is not aware of any users who've been affected by theonline security issue, but added that the company will reimburse anyone who has fallen victim to fraudulent activity.

A welcomed boost foronline security

There is some good news though! A separate article released by Shop Safe, announced new regulations handed out by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCISSC), will make it much safer to shop online.While these improvements are noted as being relatively small in scale, they will definitely have an impact on the average consumer's ability to be assured of experiencing safe shopping online, according to PCISSC Spokesperson, Bob Russo (Shop Safe)

So if your intention is to complete (or start) your Christmas shopping from your sofa, in front of the fire with a nice mug of coco (the ideal scenario). Don't be put off by the possiblesecurity issues involved in your online purchasing, but please just be somewhat more vigilant than the statistics suggest we are being currently!

Business owners don't get caught up in employees shopping expenses!

As an extra note, if you're a business owner a lot of your employees' Christmas shopping is likely to take place during your time and whilst you don't want to be the festive Scrooge, there's no need to sit back and be taken advantage of!

There's a happy media with services such asMaildistiller'sWEBaware product which allows you to exert control on your employees browsing habits, keeping their productivity high and your organisation'sonline security protection at a maximum.

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