3 Important Security Tips for Shopping Safely Online

Introduction

Convenience is the name of the game, and sites like Amazon and eBay make it such that our lives are so much easier when placing orders online. Even most big-name physical retailers offer online services, making the need to go out obsolete. This is especially useful now that we’re forced inside by a global pandemic.

More and more people are involving themselves in online shopping. This is both because of the pandemic and the gradual increase of online customers. And while I love seeing an increase in online shoppers, I fear for their safety due to the security issues that plague these services.

Today, I want to help you stay secure while shopping online. Staying safe is relatively easy, as long as you don’t mind dedicating an hour or two to securing your network and device.

3 Ways to Secure Your Shopping Experience

1. Encrypt All of Your Activity

It’s nice to be able to shop from anywhere at any time. At the local coffee shop? Doesn’t matter—you can order your new pair of shoes there. Running late to work and need to make a mad dash there? Nothing stopping you from ordering while running!

However, this freedom comes with a price—the price of security. We rarely think about the consequences of accessing our shopping accounts in public. Consequences that include having hackers being able to observe our online activity and extract personal information without us even knowing.

This can happen either because you’re using an unencrypted network or are on an unencrypted site. To make sure this doesn’t happen to you, look into encrypting your device’s data. There are a few ways to do this, one of them being the use of a VPN, a virtual private network.

Encrypting your data immensely improves your cybersecurity, and will allow you to shop with peace of mind.

2. Take Care of Your Passwords/Use Strong Ones

The move to online shopping requires the creation of accounts. Many accounts. Each of these accounts requires—you guessed it—a password. Now, making a strong, unique password is the easy part. But keeping up with said password? That’s the hard part.

Fortunately, there are tons of programs available to help you keep up with your passwords. Password managers are one of these programs, and they let you keep all of your passwords in an encrypted “locker”, allowing you access to all of your passwords at any time.

Password managers allow you to create strong passwords without the fear of losing them or having a hacker steal them without you knowing.

3. Be Aware of Phishing Scams + Other Scams

The one thing that software can’t protect against—the one thing that, despite being decades-old, still finds a way to trick online shoppers—is phishing. Phishing involves a scammer or group of scammers tricking a user into giving out their personal information, either through ads, emails, or phone calls.

Phishing scams have been around since before the Internet, but they have a strong online presence, and it’s easy to fall into these traps.

Always be vigilant about these scams when shopping and think twice before giving out your personal information. Even if you are shopping at a well-known retailer, you can still be the target of a well-crafted phishing attack like the Amazon Prime phishing scam that has transpired recently.

It is important to not visit websites not rated or trusted by other major retailers and don’t order products from unofficial retailers.

Conclusion

If you’re like me and addicted to online shopping, you’ll want to learn the importance of cybersecurity. Cybercriminals love taking advantage of us shoppers, so it’s important to practice proper security. Make sure to safeguard your online activity by encrypting your devices with a strong VPN. Use a password manager to help you generate strong robust passwords and remember all of them for each of your online accounts and always practice discernment when opening your emails from different channels. These are just some measures that will help you protect your privacy and give you a safer experience online.