Buying Online Is Just As Safe As Shopping On The High Street
Despite the growing number of Internet fraud reports, buying online is still just as safe as shopping on the high street, according to NTA Monitor, one of the UK's leading full service Internet security testing companies.
Although buying over the Internet is increasing rapidly, especially amongst women who have spent 71 percent more compared to the previous yearč, consumers are still worried about eCommerce shopping. Roy Hills, Technical Director, NTA Monitor comments: "Consumers are much more likely to get hit by their own carelessness with card receipts. There is a lot of hype about online identity theft but offline theft is probably more of a risk.
"Consumers need to become far more vigilant about protecting their identities on the high street. Identity theft is not just about stealing PINs and passwords, but also about skimming numbers from cards by shop assistants, by scanners inserted into cash machines, and - most critically - card receipts picked up in the street or from your own dustbin!"
When it comes to Internet fraud, again consumers' own behaviour presents the biggest security risk. As the festive season approaches, already five to 10 percent of all spam emails are Christmas themedČ. Phishing has escalated in the past year with hackers posing as bona fide companies and sending emails to consumers asking for confidential details such as bank account and password information.
Hills continues: "Users need to take eCommerce security seriously - including the passwords used for logging into 'secure' sites to make purchases. Many people resort to using common phrases or 'dictionary' passwords and they don't realise that while not 'guessable', an electronic hacking tool could crack this type of password in minutes. This effectively means they are leaving their keys in the front door of their computer systems. It's simply a question of common sense and taking some simple steps to improve personal security."
Internet security is also vital for the eCommerce retailer. To maintain and increase customer confidence in online shopping, retailers must take every measure to ensure their customers can shop with peace of mind.
Roy Hills concludes: "With such large sums of money to be made by Internet fraudsters, security for web sites has never been more important. Retailers must protect their sites with the latest security products and sites should be regularly tested - we recommend no less than four times a year - by a reputable Internet Security testing company. If your Internet Security testing company can find holes in your site, so can the fraudsters!"
NTA Monitor offers consumers the following advice to improve personal password security:
- Change passwords regularly, ideally once a month
- Never use 'dictionary' passwords: always use a combination of letters and numbers such as 5 for S, 3 for E etc
- Make passwords at least eight digits long
- Where unlimited password length is available use a sentence - either a phrase known to you, or a film, song or book title
- Never use a common password (shared across different web sites)
- Do not store passwords electronically - especially not in a single file
- Do not chose easily-guessable or 'theme' passwords such as football or family names
And when buying over the Internet:
- Only carry out credit card transactions via a secure connection - you can tell this by the padlock symbol in the bottom right hand corner of your browser, or by the URL beginning https instead of http
- Never send credit card details via email, as these can be intercepted and your details hijacked - Many companies who sell online now use extra methods of securing your information, such as including the codes on the back of the card as well as the front and only delivering goods to the billing address. Look at these as factors for deciding with which online sites to conduct transactions - Remember that many of your consumer rights are the same when buying online from a UK-based company, as when buying from a shop.
Source: press release
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