Cybercriminals cash in on online shopping
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – It’s easy, fast, and convenient, but shopping online can also be the perfect place for phishing scams, data breaches, and new ways to steal your joy and money.
Cybercriminals get more savvy by the second, but there are some practical steps you can take when shopping online. You’ll snag the good deals and the perfect presents for your loved ones while keeping an eye out for computer criminals.
Dr. Stephanie Benoit-Kurtz is the Lead Cybersecurity Faculty at the University of Phoenix and Principal Security Consultant at Trace3, an IT consulting organization.
Benoit-Kurtz stresses you’ve got to watch what you’re doing carefully while shopping because cybercriminals do.
“The estimates from analysts this year is that there’s going to be over $300 billion spent during the holiday season online shopping,” exclaimed Benoit-Kurtz.
That’s a lot of money and a lot of opportunities to scam someone shopping for the best deal and the best gift as they celebrate this festive time of year.
As easy as it is for you to click and buy, she wants you to understand cybercriminals are getting extremely savvy as they shop for what they want too.
“There’s a variety of threats that are evolving that are a little different than in years past,” explained Benoit-Kurtz.
The threats from cybercriminals are evolving, multiplying, and getting much harder to detect.
“Now what we are starting to see is targeted feeds on social media, to fraudulent websites and with links that are able to capture info that’s going to put your data and your credit cards at risk,” stressed Benoit-Kurtz.
Santa is not the only one watching you during the holiday season. Bad actors might be watching even closer.
“Absolutely do not save your credit card on websites or on your machine,” exclaimed Benoit-Kurtz. “If a bad actor gets a hold of your credentials or your machine, or you’re storing it somewhere, bad actors can get to it. Make sure that you’re not using your ATM or your debit card for online transactions. If bad actors get a hold of that account, they can empty that account out, and you might not be able to make your rent or buy groceries for a week or two because it takes a while for banks to sort that things out.”
Much of the advice we’ve heard repeatedly, but if you do not put it into action, then it doesn’t help you at all.
“If the deal looks too good to be true,” stressed Benoit-Kurtz. “If it’s a site you’re not familiar with, or maybe a shopping experience or a vendor you’re not familiar with, you really need to do your homework before you make that transaction online.”
While you are scouring for the best deals, Cybercriminals are ramping up their efforts too, to find you. One stop shopping for the cybercriminal can be unsecure wi-fi.
“It’s a totally unsupervised, unmanaged and unsecured event if you hook up your laptop or your mobile device to an unsecured wi-fi,” explains Benoit-Kurtz. “There could be a bad actor in the parking lot with their laptop up, capturing every keystroke, every piece of data that’s going across that network.”
Try traveling light this holiday. Let your digital wallet do the shopping. It can hold your credit or debit details, and it can be much safer, but keep your device charged so you can get to your card. If your device is not working, neither will your digital dollars.
“Those transactions are much less risky and much safer for consumers,” stressed Benoit-Kurtz.
Cyber-attacks today are more personalized, so don’t think a site is safe simply because it uses your name or offers you a deal on that very thing you’ve been searching for.
There are tools that you can use to look at the safety of a website before you shop, and many of them are free, like Google Safe Browsing.
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