Online Holiday Shopping Tips
Home > News	November 13, 2006 9:14 AM

It's that time of year again! This holiday season, shoppers are expected to spend well over $10 billion online. With that much money exchanging hands, online predators will be certain to turn a tidy profit.

Don't be a victim - remember to take the following steps to protect yourself:

* Check to ensure that any page you enter credit card information into is protected with an SSL certificate. Look for the padlock icon in the toolbar of your browser. Also, the web page address should start with "https:", not "http:"

* Make sure to run one or two reputable anti-spyware tools. You may be entering your credit card into a secure session, but that won't help if you have a hidden keylogger recording everything you type.

* Watch out for "phishing" attacks. These are predatory emails that attempt to get you to enter your username and password into a fake login page. When you do so, nothing happens on your screen but the bad guys now have your account information.

* Finally, if you are running your computer from a home network, you should be sure to run a good firewall product (click here for our top recommendation). This will protect you against recurring malware infections caused by random internet attacks.

Online shopping is surprisingly safe, assuming you take these simple precautions. Have an enjoyable online shopping experience!