Tips for Safe Online Shopping

By George Waller

Here are my tips for safe online shopping:

1) Avoid using Public WiFi. Do not shop on public networks. It’s not a great idea to get your shopping done while sitting in an airport and using public WiFi (or any other public network). Never enter your personal information or credit card data on one of these networks.
2) Save all of your email order confirmations. Do not delete these receipts. If your information were to be compromised, keeping track of where you entered your financial information will be important for recovering your accounts. Review your bank and credit card statements regularly, and remember where you made purchases.

3) Do not use the same password across all of your personal sites and logins. Use strong passwords. Passwords can provide an open window for hackers to crawl right through and install viruses and keyloggers, computer programs that recordsevery keystroke made by a computer user, especially in order to gain fraudulent access to passwords and other confidential information.

4) Use keystroke encryption software. Even on the most secure websites, hackers can still get a keylogger onto your device to swipe your credentials. To prevent keyloggers from recording your keystrokes, I recommend using keystroke encryption software on each of your devices.

5) Keep your anti-virus and anti-malware up to date.

George Waller is a co-founder and Executive Vice President of StrikeForce, which delivers military-grade cyber security tools to businesses and consumers. George’s responsibilities include corporate strategy, sales and marketing, business and channel development, and product monetization.

An entrepreneur and technologist with over 25 years in the computer industry, George is the past CEO of the company. He previously served as Vice President and chief strategist for Connexus Corporation, TeachMeIT, Incubation Systems, HealthSCOUT and RxRemedy. George studied engineering at Staten Island College and the Academy of Aeronautics.