Written by Kelly Pyart.
Following Black Friday’s chaos and success of people swamping and fighting each other in different stores, the crashing of different websites due to high demand and it being one of the busiest retail shopping days of the year, Cyber Monday has a tough act to follow.
Cyber Monday is another American shopping tradition, which has been brought over to the UK for the second year running and will see hopeful customers prowling the internet for the amazing deals that the different websites will be offering.
But among would-be purchasers and bargain hunters, there are certain to be hackers and scammers looking to cash in on vulnerable web surfers, so to keep you safe The Linc have received some top tips from SingleHop.
The most common forms of online attacks are phishing and data breaches.
In 2013, there were 25,000 recorded complaints relating to online scams according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, and do not be thinking that it could not happen to you because one fifth of sufferers were under thirty.
Phishing is where a genuine looking website lures a user into entering their personal information and details by making them think it is something legitimate. The information is then used to access any accounts of any type you hold.
Data breaches are another top method whereby hackers gain control of people’s information. They use hacking methods to access a company’s records, and any details of customers held on it is usually passed on to the black market.
Here are four ways on how we recommend to help you stay safe on Cyber Monday:
- Use Bookmarks – This could prevent you from being the victim of a phishing crime. By favouriting and bookmarking your most used websites you can be certain you are logging into a real site, and nothing fake. This minimises your chances of your information being stolen.
- Be aware – Always look carefully at any site you visit. Check it is the real thing before entering any details and question whether you need to do so. Also, be aware of phoney emails, as this is another common way of being attacked.
- Make use of extra security – Obviously, have anti-virus software downloaded on your computer because normally it will have real time scanning to prevent you clicking on any weird websites or being stolen. However, some websites offer you extra security in the form of two-step verification with a great example being Microsoft or any banking websites where you are required to enter a code to access your account.
- Demand that your information is protected – You can not necessarily control how a business protects your information, but you have the right as a consumer or user to demand it is protected by the correct security. Again, make sure you have software on your computer to double protect yourself.