Slideshow

10) One word: Cash

Not to sound like a luddite but – to
paraphrase “Joshua,” the supercomputer from War Games –
the only way you can be sure you’ll win in the war against hackers and
cyber criminals is not to play. Which is our way of
saying that if you can’t make peace with the security implications that
go along with the convenience of online shopping, there’s always cash. Its
fast, simple and – provided you don’t get mugged – alleviates any concern about
security, let alone identity theft.

9) Meet the new spam, same as the old spam

As in
life in general, if something works, you stick with it. How else to explain the
continued popularity and prevelance of e-mail based spam and phishing attacks,
even though everyone knows that e-mail is so “1998”?  Alas, the truth
is that attacks embedded as links or malicious attachments in e-mail messages
are a big threat this year, as they have been every holiday season since the
turn of the Millenium. Likewise, so-called phishing Web sites dressed up to
impersonate legitimate sites continue to be a problem for those
shopping online.

8) Your next wallet is a phone. Discuss.

Mobile payments have been going strong in countries like Japan and
Finland for years now. In the U.S., however, its taken longer for mobile
payments to get a hold on consumers. That’s all about to change. Late model mobile devices like Apple’s iPhone and Google Android-based
phones now offer consumers a host of applications for sending electronic payments
to friends and merchants.

7) Reputation matters – check it!

by Chris Brook

When you walk into a doctor’s
office, you like to see those frames hanging, right? The degrees from the
prestigious medical school and certificates of completion from a reputable
hospital residency program? The license from your state’s Board of Registration
in Medicine, maybe? They don’t mean your doctor’s a good clinician, mind you.
They just mean that she or he has attained a level of competency and been
evaluated by professionals who know. And that, at the very least, gives you a
measure of comfort in the quality of care you get.

6) (Anti) social networking

by Chris Brook

Social networks like
Facebook and Twitter are fabulous platforms for sharing information and
news. Retailers of all stripes have tapped into this and are using them to get the word out – virally – about discounts, sales and
in-store events. Unfortunately, mechanisms for vetting online reputation
haven’t quite kept up with the marketplace, which can make social networks an ideal platform for
social engineering attacks.

5) Duh. Patch.

by Chris Brook

Much
as we like to blame cybercriminals or unscrupulous merchants, much of the
responsibility for security is in our hands. In particular: we’re
responsible for the security of our computers and mobile devices. That’s
especially true when we’re planning to use those systems to go shopping online,
banking online or to transact other sensitive personal or financial business. Still,
consumers and even businesses are often slow to apply patches for core Windows
components, browsers and tools like Java, Adobe Acrobat Reader and Flash.

4) “S” stands for Safe(r)

by Chris Brook

Browsing a Web site
for offers is one thing. Actually buying merchandise is another matter entirely. Online transactions should be carried out securely, using encryption to scramble
the sensitive financial data you’re sending to the merchant’s Web site and that they’re sending to you. Before
entering your credit card information or clicking on “Send,” check to
make sure the e-commerce site you’re using has employed encryption, with a URL
that begins with “https://” indicating that SSL (Secure Sockets
Layer) encryption is being used.

2) Set Web browsers to “stun”

by Chris Brook

Cyber criminals know that Web browsers are like mothers: everybody’s got one. They also know that if you’re shopping online, you’re using your Web browser to do it. That’s why
Web based attacks are one of the most popular kind avenue of compromise and
online. The good news is that most modern Web browsers already come equipped
with security features that can block most malicious content. The bad news? Lots of folks out there are running the browser
equivalent of a 1976 Chevy Nova.

1) Beware of what you search for

by Chris Brook

Cyber criminals
realized long ago that people trust search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing even after those sites and their results lists have been shown to be easy targets for scams. Attacks
that use search engine optimized (SEO) Web sites to spread malware are a growing
problem.

Cybersecurity for your growing business
Cybersecurity for your growing business

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