eBusiness Uk Shopping Safely at Christmas

Shopping Safely on the Internet

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Shopping online at Christmas is a great way to save money, but not all sites are safe so how can you tell if a web page is secure?

Anytime a web page asks you for sensitive information, you need to be able to identify if the page is secure or not. The ability to recognize a secure web connection is extremely important as online fraud cases have increased substantially from year to year. This short article is intended to guide you to safer online shopping.

Every time you visit a web site information is sent from your computer to the web server and from the web server to your computer, this information is normally sent in "plain text", meaning anyone can be able to read it should they see it. Each piece of information transmitted passes through many servers or computers to reach its destination.

The next time you type in a password or your credit card number you need to ensure that this information is encrypted, this is where Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) comes into play.

SSL uses a complex system of key exchanges between your browser and the server you are communicating with in order to encrypt the data before transmitting it across the web. A web page with an active SSL session is what we mean when we say a web page is "secure".

ALL WEB PAGES ASKING YOU FOR SENSITIVE INFORMATION SHOULD BE SECURED USING SSL!!!

But how do you tell if a web page is secured? There are two general indications of a secured web page:

1) Check the web page URL

Normally, when browsing the web, the URLs (web page addresses) begin with the letters "http". However, over a secure connection the address displayed should begin with "https" - note the "s" at the end. This should appear at any point that you are asked to enter personal information.

2) Check for the "Lock" icon

There is a de facto standard among web browsers to display a "lock" icon somewhere in the window of the browser (NOT in the web page display area!)

Microsoft Internet Explorer displays the lock icon in the lower-right of the browser window:

Mozilla's FireFox Web Browser displays the lock icon in the lower-left corner:

THE LOCK ICON IS NOT JUST A PICTURE! Click (or double-click) on it to see details of the site's security. This is important to know because some fraudulent web sites are built with a bar at the bottom of the web page to imitate the lock icon of your browser! Therefore it is necessary to test the functionality built into this lock icon. Furthermore, it is very important to KNOW YOUR BROWSER! Check your browser's help file or contact the makers of your browser software if you are unsure how to use this functionality.

Check for that "https" in the prefix of the web page address.

Click on that "lock icon" in the status bar of your browser.

If everything looks good, the company or individual(s) running that web site have provided you with a safe means of communicating your sensitive information. The web page is "secure".

If you are still not sure call them – many of the dodgy sites will not have a person you can talk to

Finally if the sites still leaves you a little uneasy try typing in the name with either “complaints” or “problems” after it, if there are serious issues with the site then it is not unusual for complaints about dodgy sites or even sites offering poor value or service to be mentioned on the web.

Browse safely and have a happy Christmas.

eBusiness Uk Shopping Safely at Christmas