The holiday season is upon us, and there are tons of great deals on Black Friday and Cyber Monday just around the corner. However, with ongoing concern about cyber-attacks, hacking, identity theft, and internet fraud, it's critical that consumers take steps to protect themselves while shopping on the internet. Here are several tips that will make online transactions safer and provide you with peace of mind as you cross items off your holiday shopping list:

1. Shop Securely. Most eCommerce sites now use secure socket layer (SSL) protection by default. Always look for "https://" in the web address of any site you're visiting. The "s" in https means that traffic on the site is encrypted and affords another layer of protection over standard http sites. Make sure that the "s" is in the URL throughout your entire session if you are providing any personal or sensitive information such as your name, address, and credit card. Private browsing is another good way to add extra security to online shopping. By using a private browser tab or window, no traditional cookies will be cached in your browser session, and your personal information will not be saved on any sites you visit.
2. Be Internet Smart. No reputable online retailer will ever ask for personal information other than name, address, and credit card data for customer purchases. Never provide your social security number or other sensitive information to an online retailer. Also, check your social security number or other sensitive information to an online retailer. Also, check your credit card statements frequently for unauthorized charges or other fraudulent transactions. Make sure you use strong passwords with a combination of numbers, special characters, and both upper and lower-cased letters on your online shopping customer accounts as added protection against data breaches and identity theft.
3. Shop Trusted Sites. As a general rule, the more familiar you are with the legitimacy of the websites you shop, the better. Trusted sites like large online retailers (Amazon, Wayfair, Jet, Best Buy, etc.) have very robust protection against cyberattacks and data theft. They will always have SSL protection. When using a search engine for online shopping, pay close attention to the "look" of the retailer's web address. If you get an advertisement in your email or social media account that looks enticing, make sure you place the cursor over the ad to see where the ad is actually going to take you, and that it matches where you are intending to go in order to avoid falling victim to malvertising (advertisements that either contain malware or take you to a site that will install malware on your machine if you do not have anti-malware, spyware, and anti-virus protection).
4. Shopping via Mobile Devices. Many people use their mobile devices to shop online. Make sure if you're shopping using an app that the app uses end to end encryption. Well-known apps like Amazon and Best Buy will use this type of encryption to secure transaction traffic. Be careful of "Application Permissions Creep" and limit each app's permission to access different parts of your device like contact lists, email, instant messages, the camera, and microphone. Always check permission settings on every shopping app you use to see what permissions that app has to other information on your device.
5. Wireless Protection. When shopping over a wireless connection, make sure it is a secured connection. If you don't have to enter a complicated password, or if the wireless name looks fishy, don't use it to connect to the internet. Ask the coffee shop if their secured wireless connection uses WPA2 encryption. Also, make sure that you connect to the exact wireless network name that you're provided and that the password is secure. If there are multiple wireless networks available for connection, such as "Coffeeshop2", that do not require a password, do not connect to them. Adjust the security settings on your device to limit who can access your device.
6. Ransomware for the Holidays. If you go to a site and suddenly your machine flashes that you have been infected with ransomware, disengage your wireless connection right away or pull out the internet cable if you are not using wireless. If you're using a smartphone, you can either turn off the wireless setting or put it in airplane mode. This will help keep the ransomware from infecting and encrypting any more files than it already has or traversing through your network. Whether you are using a personal or work device, always use anti-malware and anti-virus protection and make sure that you keep consistent backups in case you have to reformat your device.

The convenience and variety offered by online retailers can make holiday shopping a breeze, but it's critical to understand the risks. By taking a little time now to make your shopping safer, you can be confident you're not getting scammed and will make fewer trips to the mall - a real win-win situation. Have a happy, safe, and secure holiday season!

What You Need to Know About the Newest Ransomware

Another new type of ransomware, a variant of the Virlock ransomware, is capable of spreading through the cloud and locks all cloud storage and collaborative shared applications and files. This makes it much easier for one user to spread the malware quickly through an entire enterprise cloud structure and network. It uses the concept of syncing and sharing to spread. Not only does this malware lock files but it can also infect any other user that uses an infected shared application.