Shop Safely on Cyber Monday

Today – Cyber Monday 2018 – shoppers are expected to spend a record $7.8 billion. But online shopping brings a new level of risk with the rapid rise of cloud services and use of devices as part of the sales experience. Historically, the retail sector has lagged other sectors when it comes to security since many companies rely on IT contractors rather than in-house staff trained in cyber security best practice. So it comes as no surprise that between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday this year, fraud attempts are projected to increase 14 percent according to one of the largest Universal Payments (UP) companies. The value of fraudulent transactions is predicted to rise to $243, which is a slight increase from last year. It is also likely that cyber fraudsters will look beyond traditional online buying channels and target call centers and shopping experiences like buy online/pick-up in store.

It is important to use the following cyber security best practices during the year-end buying season and beyond:

• Think before you click – whether it’s a deal that comes in via text or when submitting a purchase

• Look for the lock symbol and 's' in the web address (HTTPS)

• Use different passwords for each online retailer

• Use a credit card (has more consumer protections than debit cards)

• Consider Apple Pay, which sends a temporary one-time credit card number to the vendor

• Don’t store credit card information in online vendor account profiles

#datasecurity #cybersecurity #CyberMondaysecurity #safeonlineshopping