With the festive season fast approaching, people are increasingly turning to online shopping in order to beat the Christmas rush. A comfortable, convenient and easy way to avoid the Christmas crowds and compare gift ideas, shopping via your favourite online store offers an attractive alternative to standing in line for hours on end in a crowded and stressful environment.

Buying your Christmas gifts online also offers the distinct advantage that you can quickly and easily compare the prices of your chosen gifts, either by manually comparing prices on a selection of websites, or through price comparison services such as Kelkoo and Pricerunner, for example. In a turbulent financial climate, the ability to maximise your spend at this expensive time of year is, without doubt, one of the main driving forces behind the ever-growing popularity of online shopping.

Internet shopping is generally a very safe and convenient medium for today's busy shopper, however to ensure a productive and positive shopping experience it is worth adhering to the top 7 tips of safe online shopping this Christmas.

Top 7 Tips for Safe Online Christmas Shopping
1) SSL Security Certificate
Ensure the website you are buying from carries an SSL certificate on pages where you are entering private information such credit card and billing information. 'SSL' stands for Secure Sockets layer and is used to encrypt sensitive information transmitted over the internet.

Information transmitted via SSL cannot be read by unauthorised third parties, thus significantly reducing the risk of fraud. To check whether the website you are buying from is using an SSL certificate (and every website taking credit card details should be) simply check the URL of your page for the https: and/or the secure padlock symbol at the foot of your browser window.

2) Update Your Internet Browser
To ensure a safe online experience whilst shopping, and in general, it is important to ensure your internet browser is kept as up to date as possible. New browser updates are continually released to address security bugs and vulnerabilities. Updates are free to download and easy to install, so there is no reason not to have the latest version of your browser installed.

3) Update Your Operating System
As with Internet Browsers, Operating Systems can also be vulnerable to new bugs and security holes, which is why it is important to keep your operating system up to date for a safe online experience. This is especially important for Windows based operating systems, which are installed in the majority of home computers/laptops, and as such are particularly liable to breaches of security.

Most modern operating systems allow you to automatically update your software by configuring your device to do so, or you can manually download the latest updates for free via the web. Either way, you should always ensure your operating system is up to date to ensure optimal security at all times.

4) Install Anti-Virus Software and Regular Updates
Most people are aware of the importance of installing a good anti-virus package, but it is worth re-iterating this point. Viruses often arrive in the guise of email attachments or website downloads, but they can also be unknowingly downloaded from malicious sites just by visiting that website.

There are a variety of excellent anti-virus packages available, some of which are free, so ensuring against potential virus threats is as simple as finding the correct package for you and installing it.

You should also ensure your anti-virus software is up-to-date by installing the latest virus definitions when they become available. Updated virus definitions contain code used to recognise new virus threats, so to ensure your device is adequately protected it is important to install these updates. Your anti-virus software should normally download these definitions automatically, and Windows based operating systems will recognise whether or not your virus protection is up-to-date.

5) Install Anti-Spyware/Adware/Malware tools
There are other forms of malicious software which pose a potential threat to internet users. Spyware and Adware normally install themselves on your computer simply by visiting an unsavoury site. At its worst, this type of software can install malicious programs such as keylogger software, which can log the keypresses of the keyboard on an infected machine, and can be used to obtain sensitive information such as credit card numbers.

There are a number of very good free software packages which prevent malicious software such as Spyware/Adware/Malware from running on your machine, so it is a wise move to install such a package on your device.

6) Install Firewall Software on your Computer
A Firewall is a piece of software which prevents access to your computer by an unauthorised user or software program. Without a Firewall, your computer could be vulnerable hacking attempts and malicious software such as viruses, trojans and worms, so it is important to ensure you have one installed. Again, there are some very good Firewall programs available for free download, and in modern installations of Windows operating systems a Firewall is included as standard.

7) Beware of Phishing Websites/Emails
'Phishing' describes a relatively well-known security threat whereby a malicious user/organisation attempts to gain access to sensitive information such as usernames/passwords/credit card details by means of a fake website and/or email.

Typically, a user may receive an email, e.g. from a well-known bank, requesting that the recipient of the email is required to update their details online. The phishing email usually contains a link to a fake website designed to collect your details for fraudulent purposes. Fake Phishing websites often closely resemble the original website they are based upon, and recipients of phishing emails are often duped into revealing their sensitive information to unscrupulous fraudsters.

The latest Internet Browsers come with anti-phishing tools which advise users of potential phishing threats. Vigilance is also recommended, as banking websites will never email clients requesting full passwords or usernames.

By following these top 7 tips for safe shopping online, you can ensure your Christmas shopping experience is as safe and secure as possible, with the added satisfaction that you won't have to brave the crowds this festive season.

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Word Count Appx. : 983 | Article Views 521 Published 16-10-2008