Analysts: Three precautions key to Internet purchases

As the holiday season approaches, you should remember to take precautions against hackers when you purchase gifts online. Consumers, of course, should keep their computer’s anti-virus software up to date, but they also should consider blocking suspicious websites and always should confirm that a site’s URL is secure.

James Quin, who is a lead analyst for Info Tech Research Group, an information-technology research firm, says the majority of e-commerce websites are secure against hackers who seek consumers’ personal and financial information. But he warns that consumers must remain vigilant.

The standard security measure for e-commerce sites is secure sockets layer (SSL) encryption. When a customer is making a purchase on an e-commerce site, his/her computer’s browser sends information to the site’s server. Quin says SSL encryption acts like a tunnel that allows the information to be transmitted securely.

However, Quin points out that a hacker can compromise an e-commerce site’s SSL certificate of authentication, which sends a message to a customer’s Internet browser to verify the website’s identity. As a result, a customer’s financial information could be stolen. Malware or viruses also could be transmitted to a customer’s computer, which could put even more of his/her financial information at risk of being stolen.

John Pescatore, who is a security analyst for technology-research firm Gartner, reminds consumers that the first line of defense is to install anti-virus software on their computer.

Consumers also can take a step further by blocking suspicious websites from their computer through a domain-name-system security service, which also authenticates a website. Pescatore says consumers should check with their Internet service provider to see whether this option is available.

Pescatore also says consumers should check an e-commerce site’s URL address to make sure that it features a lock icon or that the HTTP in the address field changes to HTTPS when you make a purchase. Pescatore says most major retail sites feature a URL that turns green to signify that the connection is secure.

– K. Fanuko