Tag Archives: SSL

Useful Security Tips For Safe Online Shopping

If you are hesitant to do online shopping or payments, this article will give you the best security tips so that you may go ahead and shop online without worry about safety and security of using personal information online. I have a few tips for those who do want to enjoy the benefits of shopping from home and those who want to get a break from running around to pay bills. This is also for all my friends who want to, but are afraid to transact online for fear of sharing financial information.

Shop with a credit card, not a debit card – Credit cards always have better protection and support from the card companies, so just in case something goes wrong, the have the authority to stop/cancel the transaction within some time period. On debit cards however, the money goes as you pay. So, even if you have protection, the money is already gone.

Use one card for all your online shopping – It is easier to keep track of transactions on one card and you will be able to check your statement easily.

Use one computer (preferably password locked) for online shopping – When you shop online frequently, use same computer and have a login password enabled on it. It is not just for security from unwary users, but also a protection from some viruses (namely trojans).

Use newly opened browser for all online shopping or payments – Always close all windows of the browser and open afresh for online shopping. Also do not open multiple tabs for shopping and surfing. For surfing, use another different browser. For example if you use Google chrome for shopping, then for surfing at same time, use Internet explorer or Firefox or Opera.

Always close browser window after completing purchase – Even if you have to surf net afterwards, close the browser windows once and then open again. This is very important as you may have noticed that even banks ask you to close window after you log out (it is important to close not just tab but all the browser windows). The explanation for the and previous point lies in the fact that browsers store information on your computers in “cookies”. Reliable sites delete important security information on closing of browser though unimportant personal info may be retained.

Never click on links in emails – Even if the mail is from someone you know, do not click on links in emails. It can be a potential source of viruses and hence security compromise on your PC. Who can be sure if your known contact’s computer isn’t security compromised.

Check the site name and URL in the browser address bar – When proceeding to pay for a purchase, always keep an eye on the site name and URL in the address bar of the browser(that is where you type the site URL for going to the site). It will either be starting with same site name of will be the third party site like PayPal, CCAvenue, etc. Check the third party site (if you are not sure) to be a payment gateway before you make payment.

Look for SSL sign/padlock in browser address bar – Before making payment, check for https:// in the address bar URL and for the SSL sign. SSL means data is sent encrypted over the net and only target site can decode it. (When a SSL Digital Certificate is installed on a web site, users can see a padlock icon at the bottom area of the navigator)

Use a latest and updated browser – You may use any operating system like Windows, Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora etc) or mac but use the newer browsers for online shopping. A new and updated browser will have less security loopholes and better viewer experience too. Avoid using older browsers like IE6/IE7.

General Precautions as for any shopping – Last advice, but not the least, as for all shopping, do get a gist of the fine print on the site like shipping details and time, warranty info, replacement policy, money back guarantee terms etc. For this I would suggest you shop online only on reputed sites which are well established and used. These sites invest in infrastructure and security and hence are more suitable for a good shopping experience online.

Use price comparison sites for faster and foolproof shopping – This is not exactly a safety tip, but is a smart shopping guideline. Price comparison sites usually present prices from various reputed online shopping stores in one place and you may try them for getting a good deal.

Our website, www.price-hunt.com is one such price comparison engine and it provides an instant search into major stores to give you the best price for your shopping item. I am sure you will get the best of all prices there. Since you have made it to this part of the article, I am sure you will give online shopping or online payments a definite try, and be a part of the future of retail shopping.

Online Shopping For Filipinos, Advantages And Disadvantages

The popularity of online shopping in the Philippines are becoming more apparent nowadays, especially when different business establishments today have come to use the internet to do their business. Online gift shops, flower shops, apparel shops, toy shops, and online philippine buy and sell shop are among the kinds of online shops that Filipinos have established on the internet. So what made online shops so popular in the Philippines or in other countries?

Advantages
The most common advantage that online shops or any other kind of online businesses is its convenience. Online stores are usually available 24 hours a day, and many consumers have Internet access both at work and at home. A visit to a conventional retail store requires travel and must take place during business hours. Searching or browsing an online catalog can be faster than browsing the aisles of a physical store. This is much preferable for a lot of Filipinos, especially those Filipinos working abroad. Because of online shops, Filipinos that works abroad can easily and conveniently philippine buy and send gifts or any other kinds of stuff to their families at their own leisure.

Though online shopping have opened up new possibilities for both consumer and business, several problems have also been cited from online shopping. One common problem is fraud and identity theft.

Disadvantages
Given the lack of ability to inspect merchandise before purchase, consumers are at higher risk of fraud on the part of the merchant than in a physical store. Merchants also risk fraudulent purchases using stolen credit cards or fraudulent repudiation of the online purchase. With a warehouse instead of a retail storefront, merchants face less risk from physical theft.

Being new in this trend, many Filipinos have already been a victim of fraud and identity theft. Many business establishments in the philippine buy and sell business or any other kind of business have also been under attack of these problems. To lessen such incidence, a number of resources have offered several advices on how Filipino consumers and other consumers can protect themselves when using online retailer services. These are:

* Sticking with known stores, or attempting to find independent consumer reviews of their experiences; also ensuring that there is comprehensive contact information on the website before using the service, and noting if the retailer has enrolled in industry oversight programs such as trust mark or trust seal.
* Ensuring that the retailer has an acceptable privacy policy posted. For example note if the retailer does not explicitly state that it will not share private information with others without consent.
* Ensuring that the vendor address is protected with SSL or Secure Sockets Layer when entering credit card information. If it does the address on the credit card information entry screen will start with “HTTPS”.
* Using strong passwords, without personal information. Another option is a “pass phrase,” which might be something along the lines: “I shop 4 good a buy!!” These are difficult to hack, and provides a variety of upper, lower, and special characters and could be site specific and easy to remember.

Although the benefits of online shopping are considerable, when the process goes poorly it can create a thorny situation. This is why its very important that before making a purchase on an online shop, make sure that every documents or any other security measures are present.

Things To Look For When Deciding On A Shopping Cart

Internet shopping is the fastest growing trend that is taking the world, as it is even affecting the brick-and-mortar stores for more consumers are relying on the internet to shop. So in order for a physical store to stay competitive, they should be willing to have a website where in their customers can easily view what they are selling. However, it must not only be product photos and information, as it is also important to have an online storefront so that shoppers can make purchases from the comfort of their homes.

To aid a merchant to have a successful online storefront, it is essential for them to install easy-to-use shopping cart software. Before, consumers need to purchase products individually unless the online seller has provided a place where the shopper can include several items. As the eCommerce became more popular over the years, the need for a better system became in demand. The creation of shopping cart became the solution for the merchants to create an easy and reliable online store, wherein their consumers can make a quick and convenient purchase. A buyer can just place items in the shopping cart almost the same with the grocery store, and pay for everything. After the consumer finished shopping they will be ready to proceed to a check out.

A shopping cart can:

Allows the shopper to compile or save his or her purchases and return later to finalize the shopping. The buyer also has the flexibility of increasing or decreasing the number of items he wants to purchase.

The shopper can easily remove or add products on the shopping cart without affecting or deleting the entire order. The shopping cart software will enable the buyer to track products he or she ordered and the shipping information provided by the seller.

With shopping cart software, it doesnt matter how many products you will sell. You can display and sell 100 or more different products in your website without having a headache on managing it. You can simply categorize each product and provide detailed description so that your consumers can easily browse and choose from your website.

Shipping calculations have become more detailed and enhance in the last few years. All shopping carts include features such as; calculations from tables provided by the merchants and real-time calculations that gather information from major couriers. Shipping cart software also includes variety of shipping calculations such as.

By Weight of the product By Total Sales The number of items ordered A fixed shipping price for all products

Shopping cart software have secured payment transactions, so when its time for the consumers to make a purchase, they wont worry about hackers stealing sensitive information about their credit cards. The safety features includes the following:

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) which encrypts information. Knowing that the ecommerce website has an SSL gateway will keep you worry free of hackers stealing your credit cards crucial factors.

Shopping carts also provided a secured payment gateway between your website and the credit card providers. It also offer protection of the credit card numbers stored on the website, or it will not store it at all.

You can also create secured download areas on any of your digital products using the security disk space provided by the shopping cart software subscription services.