We’re getting into the end-of-year holiday season. In addition to our busy end-of-year business schedule, we need to plan for family visits, develop menus for special meals, and possibly do a little shopping while the deals are good. It’s a lot to keep track of.

Just remember it’s when you are distracted that you tend to put your digital security most at risk. Digital criminals don’t take holidays. In fact, they actively use all the distractions surrounding the holidays to target consumers with scams and other attack attempts.

Cyber Safety for the Holidays

Now is the perfect time to review cyber safe tips for the upcoming holiday season. Provided below are some recommendations that you can follow to stay secure.

  • Shop using secure Wi-Fi: Coffee shop browsing is very convenient, but before you give in and buy something then and there, perhaps save the links and head home where you know your connection isn’t being rerouted to a man-in-the-middle attack when you plug in those credit cards. If you need to do your shopping while out and about, you could consider using a VPN.
  • Shop from a secure device: Malware or keystroke copying trojans are still out there, siphoning off what is typed into an infected machine be it a PC, smartphone, or tablet. Check that your antivirus tools are current and running as well as that your operating systems and browsers are updating.
  • Shop from secure websites: Check that the site you are shopping from uses SSL protection. Does the address bar have “https:” in the URL? That “s” should be required before you enter payment or personal information.
  • Shop from unique credentials: If you shop from the same website often, it’s useful to have an account, and sometimes the retailer will require it or create it when you (Read more...)