Holiday online shopping made easy

MANILA, Philippines - Convenience, ease, and better deals are just three of the reasons why more and more users shop online, especially during the busiest shopping season of all — Christmas. What usually takes months or weeks to buy and locate can be bought online and delivered straight at the shopper’s mail box. 

 “Online shopping is fast becoming the preferred purchasing method compared to physically buying from the stores. In 2010 alone, Asia/Pacific online shop owners earned USD 156.9 billion. Reports are predicting that in 2014, there will be a 78-percent increase in the online shopping volume in the US,” says Myla Pilao, director, Trend Labs core technology. “This preference however, has become cyber criminal targets, zeroing on the shopper’s credit card credentials, online banking personal identification numbers (PIN) and other relevant personal data.” 

Another factor that catalyzed the online shopping growth is the smartphones. Mobile computing is starting to play a bigger role in terms of online shopping. 43 percent of all Web-enabled smartphone owners said they use their mobile devices to help them shop.

However, shoppers need not be helpless against these attacks. They can implement security measures and solutions to help them avoid being victimized. Below are some precautions to keep in mind while online shopping:

• If the offer is “too good to be true” it probably is. When looking for the best deals online, watch out for unbelievable offers. Deals that are too good to be true may just be that.

Not all online promos are fraudulent though. Popular online shopping sites do give discounts or freebies for big-ticket and overstocked products. It’s just a matter of choosing the right sites to buy from. Search for reviews, vendor reputation and public opinions to validate your finds.

• (Book) mark the spot.   If you want to keep buying stuff from a site, it’s a good idea to bookmark the site. Tempting as it is to simply rely on search engines to find the right shop, don’t. Cybercriminals often count on misspelled links to lead victims to spoofed sites.

Cybercriminals also employ blackhat search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to poison search results. They modify the content of malicious sites so these would appear as top results. Clicking links to these puts you at the mercy of phishers and in danger of system infections.

• Keep cybercriminal’s hands off your coffers. It’s checkout time! This is where you should really be careful as it involves your hard-earned-money. One wrong move can mean your loss.

Never opt for a payment method that does not offer any kind of buyer protection. Wire transfers and money orders are therefore off the table. Once sent, you have no way of getting your money back. There’s no way to stop a shady vendor from simply taking your money and not sending you the goods you paid for. This is exactly why these methods are preferred by scammers.

• Don’t shop in a hot spot. Just as you won’t buy groceries from a store in a bad neighborhood, you should also avoid shopping online in places with unsecure networks or via public hot spots. Not only can bad guys hijack your shopping session while you’re connected to an unsafe network, they can also drop malicious files onto your system. The system you’re using in an Internet café may already be malware infected to begin with, too.

• Limit your online shopping when at home. This assures uninterrupted and safe sessions, assuming you keep your system patches up to date and your network secure, of course.

• Trust only a reputable security software  

Though you may already know everything that’s just been said, you may slip sometimes. It happens to the best of us. Cybercriminals are after one thing alone — your money. They’re just waiting for you to slip and give them access to your cash. To ensure anytime, anywhere online safety, regardless of device, use a security solution that protects you from any and all threats. Keeping safe online shopping practices in mind certainly goes a long way. Using a reliable security solution, however, lets you rest easy when making purchases.

Trend Micro Titanium Cloud Edition Maximum Security 2012, the latest security solution from Trend Micro, is based in the cloud and offers robust protection against all malicious threats, no matter how they are delivered, where they try to hide, or what connected device is in use.

A new feature in Trend Micro Titanium Cloud Edition Maximum Security 2012 is a tool that visually identifies safe and malicious links on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. The software also offers mobile security for smartphones and tablets, including robust tools for Android devices with Trend Micro Mobile Security for Android™ Personal Edition and file and folder synchronization and backup through Trend Micro™ SafeSync™ online service.