One of the safety designations being afforded to October is Cyber Safety Month, with each week bringing a different emphasis on a subject related to cybersecurity. Numerous entities are providing safety tips timed to the month, and one of those, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, has valuable advice related to purchasing products online in a new report.
First, you’ll want to do your due diligence prior to the purchase of any given item. If you haven’t heard of a given site before, look to various review platforms online and even see what your friends have to say about the site.
If you can confirm that the site is in fact legitimate, you’ll then want to make sure that the domain is capable of safeguarding your data. In your browser window, at the beginning of the site’s URL, look for https as opposed to the more standards http. Https means that the site should be secure. You should also be safe if you see a padlock icon in that same space.
When you’re making the payment, a credit card may be a better idea than a debit card, because a potential fraud or hacker wouldn’t gain access to your bank account directly with a credit card. Once the transaction has gone through, you should print out all receipts and confirmation numbers in case something goes awry.