Verizon at Home

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Our guest blogger is Jack McArtney, who manages online safety issues for Verizon. Jack has played a key role in the introduction of Verizon Safeguards and numerous parental control products and services for Verizon customers. He oversees consumer policies and industry guidelines for wireless and online safety as well as content and advertising standards.

By Jack McArtney

Call it Cyber Monday or Black Monday; it’s that Monday after Thanksgiving when retailers and online outlets offer incentives for shopping online.  What may have been only a trend a few years ago has become a holiday-shopping tradition for many Americans.  Whether it’s free shipping or discount coupons, the online offers can make the life of time-strapped shoppers easier and more rewarding.  And you won’t even have to get out of your pajamas!  Luckily, with Verizon technology, you’ll have lightning-fast access to online retailers so you won’t miss out on any holiday deals.

This year, we want to be sure you’re prepared all season long to make smart and safe decisions while using your PC, laptop, smartphone or tablet to find the best holiday bargains.  Make your mantra this season “Prepare, Prevent, Protect” to stay one step ahead of cybercriminals.

Prepare

• Read this post (you’re already off to a good start!)
• Share this information with kids and older family members who may be doing online shopping too

Prevent

• Make sure you have the maximum level possible for your wireless router.  The recommendation is WPA or WPA2.
• Make sure the shopping site you’re visiting has a secured checkout page.  If you don’t feel confident the site is secure, then consider using a different site.   
• Remember free wireless hotspots are not always safe and secure.  Refrain from shopping online or sending confidential information online while using a free wireless hotspot.
• Use a credit card instead of a debit card when making purchases online.  Credit card companies will likely not hold you responsible for purchases resulting from theft of your card information, whereas a cyber crook can clean out your bank account quickly with debit card information
• Be wary of opening emails with attachments that come from unknown sources or that contain suspicious looking links.  They can contain viruses, spyware, worms, etc.
• Be suspicious of coupon deals on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.  If they appear too good to be true, they probably are.
• Make sure you have strong password protection for your online accounts, whether it’s your banking site or your email account.  Update them regularly.

Protect

• If you don’t already have one, get rock-solid Internet security software, such as Verizon’s Internet Security Suite powered by McAfee, which provides frequent software updates.  It also includes a site advisor tool that provides risk ratings for websites, as well as identity protection that helps you shop, bank and trade online safely

If you operate a small business or retail operation that sees increased sales during the holidays, protecting your customers’ information is essential to a successful season. 

• Retailers should not make—or allow—any significant changes to their IT systems leading up to the holidays. They should focus instead on establishing a stable, secure snapshot-in-time of their network to establish a baseline should a breach occur. 
• Traffic moving between stores and between headquarters and stores is commonly overlooked in retail environments.  During the holiday season lockdown, network traffic should be closely monitored for activity that might characterize a security incident.  If possible, consider blocking all non-essential store-to-store and store-to-headquarters traffic.
• Businesses often do not have a keen sense of their own data – what is vital to the business, where the data is stored, where it flows and who has access. It is virtually impossible to protect data if a business does not know it exists or where it resides.  
• Unnecessary data retention is a major trap for retailers.  Sensitive data such as consumer- and identity-related information are a goldmine for data thieves, and therefore can be a retailer’s greatest exposure. Unnecessary sensitive data should be purged.
• While interactions with business partners are part of everyday business, they can also expose organizations to heightened risk. To enhance security within third-party interactions, retailers should only allow third parties to connect to their network with specific approval and/or a trouble ticket, and they should require unique IDs and use two-factor authentication, such as a user name/password and token.

In addition to the common-sense suggestions offered here, I’d encourage folks to visit the website of Verizon online security partner McAfee to get their rundown on the “Twelve Scams of Christmas.”  McAfee’s annual tip sheets offer sound advice for cyber shoppers regardless what time of the year you jump online for a bargain.  The National Cyber Security Alliance also offers mobile shopping tips and online shopping tips as part of its Stop Think Connect awareness campaign.

These steps for protecting yourself can provide a measure of precaution that make the holidays more enjoyable and rewarding.  So, go online and purchase that new PC or set of golf clubs and enjoy the gift of being closer to family and friends. 

How do you safeguard yourself during the holidays?  Do you have additional questions that we haven’t answered?  We encourage you to le