There is a tremendous rise in online shopping, but is it safe and secure?

Online shopping has become a hit with about 90% of the western world and the developing countries are fast catching on. However, with all the benefits of online shopping there still ligers concern. This concern is fuelled by a mid-January report of Zappos. The Amazon owned online retailer reveals that hackers have stolen the records of over 24 million of its online shopping customers. This occurred even though their credit card contents were encrypted in compliance with requirements enforced by Visa and MasterCard. Cryptographically scrambled passwords have also been hacked.

Zappos has sent its online shopping users an e-mail to change their passwords and beware of phishing e-mails or telephone scams. This is because as the online shopping clientele increases more data will be captured online, encouraging hackers to
steal more information.

Although online retailers are responsible for the data of its users, consumers too need to be vigilant. Cybercriminals prey on consumers using simple passwords says Stina Ehrensvard, CEO of Yubico, an authentication device maker. Hence, passwords need to have better strength. Another solution to safe and secure online shopping is to use a secondary e-mail address for less secure transactions. It can have a different password than used for banking or credit card management purposes. The quick checkout option on the online shopping websites can also be opted for because less information is saved on it.