The IT Nerd

Findings from a new survey released by McAfee today show more than half of online holiday shoppers are willing to risk purchasing from potentially fake websites if it will save them money. Called Holiday Stresses, the survey revealed that online shoppers can be more careless while shopping online during the holiday shopping season.

Some of the survey’s other key findings included:

• 53 per cent of online shoppers said the stress of the holiday season caused them to behave carelessly online
• 31 per cent clicked on links in suspicious emails in a search for better deals
• 22 per cent said they engaged in risky online behavior, such as using public Wi-Fi access for their shopping
• 56 per cent are willing to use an unfamiliar site, if it allows them to save money

McAfee offered several tips for consumers who want to shop more safely online:

• Connect with caution. Using public Wi-Fi might seem like a good idea in the moment, but if consumers are not careful, they could be unknowingly exposing their personal information or credit card details to cybercriminals who are snooping on the network. If public Wi-Fi must be used to conduct transactions, use a virtual private network (VPN) to help ensure a secure connection.
• Think before you click. One of the easiest ways for a cybercriminal to target victims is by using phishing emails disguised as holiday savings or shipping notification, to lure consumers into clicking links that could lead to malware, or a phony website designed to steal personal information. Instead of clicking on a link in an email, it is always best to check directly with the source to verify an offer or shipment.
• Browse with security protection. Use comprehensive security protection, like McAfee Total Protection, which can help protect devices against malware, phishing attacks and other threats. It includes McAfee WebAdvisorwhich can help identify malicious websites.
• Use a tool to help protect your personal information. A solution like McAfee Identity Theft Protection, takes a proactive approach to help protect identities with personal and financial monitoring and recovery tools to help keep identities personal and secure.

This entry was posted on November 13, 2018 at 5:00 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags McAfee. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.