Protecting Your Money Security Tips (2024)

With online banking and shopping offering greater convenience, more and more people are using the Internet toconduct financial transactions and make purchases. However, cybercriminals are capitalising onopportunities tosteal consumers’ passwords, identities and money.

Internet security tips— tohelp you protect your money and credit cards online

Here are some useful tips— from Kaspersky Lab’s team ofsecurity experts— tohelp you protect your money and data when you’re online:

• Don’t assume links are genuine
  When you need tovisit anonline bank, aretailer orapayment website, you should manually type inthe URL— instead ofclicking onalink. Donot visit websites byclickingon:
  • Links inemails
  • Messages onsocial network sites
  • Messages inchat rooms
  • Banner ads that are onsuspicious websites
  • Links sent toyou bypeople you donot know
• Beware offake communications
  Most financial organisations will never send emails asking customersto:
  • Send personal data inanemail
  • Visit their site for authorisation
  • Enter personal data inpop-up windows
• Check the URL
  When you’re visiting aweb page that needs you toenter confidential data, carefully check that the address ofthe page that’s shown onthe browser corresponds with the page that you were intending toaccess. Ifthe URL ismade upofarandom selection ofletters and numbers— oritlooks suspicious— donot input any information.
• Use encryption
  Make sure that you use anencrypted connection, whenever you need toinput any confidential data. Ifaconnection issecure, the URL will start with the letters ‘https’ — inaddition, the address bar orthe browser’s status bar will display asmall icon ofalock. When you click onthe lock icon, look closely atthe information about the SSL authentication certificate that has been issued tothe site (you’ll beable tonote when the certificate was issued, who issued itand for what period the certificate was issued).
• Use your own computer— and your own Internet connection
  Try toavoid using public computers— inInternet cafes, airports, clubs, hotels, libraries orother locations— when you need toaccess online banking services oronline retailers. These public computers may have avariety ofspyware programs running onthem. Ifso, these malicious programs could record everything you type onthe keyboard— including your passwords— and also intercept Internet traffic.

  Even ifyou use your own computer for online transactions, you need toavoid connecting tothe Internet via apublic Wi-Fi network. Onapublic Wi-Fi network, there isarisk that the traffic might beintercepted bythe network’s administrator orbycybercriminals— and attacks might belaunched with network worms.

• Don’t use your main credit card ordebit card
  You might benefit from having aspecial card that you only use for online purchases. Itmay bepossible torestrict the credit limit for your ‘online credit card’ ortohold alimited amount ofmoney onyour ‘online debit card’.
• Learn from other people’s experiences
  Before making apurchase online, try toread customer reviews about that specific retailer.
• Bewary ofpotentially untrustworthy sites
  Itcan beagood idea toavoid buying from retailers that have websites that are registered with free hosting services.
• Get additional information about the website
  Ifyou have any doubts orsuspicions about aretailer’s website, use a ‘WhoIs’ IPservice inorder tofind out more information about the domain— including how long ithas been inuse and who ownsit. Note the period oftime for which the domain has been paid.
• Eliminate vulnerabilities— inyour operating system and applications
  Always ensure that the operating system — and all applications — on your computer and other devices have the latest updates installed. This will help to eliminate operating system and application vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious software programs and attacks. Windows OS products are often targets of vulnerabilities so be sure you're secure whether you are running the newest OS , XP, or Windows 7 - security is essential.
• Maintain your firewall
  For additional security, instead ofjust running astandard firewall, you may choose torun application and software-based firewalls.
• Protect against malware and Internet security risks
  Arigorous anti-malware solution can protect you against computer viruses, worms, Trojan viruses and more. Some anti-malware products also include special technologies that provide additional layers ofsecurity when you’re using online shopping and banking websites.