10 Steps to Ensure Safe Online Transactions

Ease of shopping and comparing products and prices online has made it an attractive option for many of us to shop and do online transactions. But we hardly realize that when we share our personal or bank information with any random shopping or any third party site one can easily steal your identity and wreak havoc on your life. So how can you make sure your transactions are safe and your credit card information going only where you intend it to? There is nothing sure thing but there are several ways to minimize the risk or help ensure safe transactions on the Internet, and more are becoming possible all the time.

10 key steps for safe online transactions:

1. Use automatic updates for all software on your system: Keep all software (including your web browser, and especially your security software) current, with automatic updates. This patches most of the discovered vulnerabilities in software, thereby reducing chances of your machine from getting compromised by malware programs that might hijack your online sessions, capture your passwords and other confidential information.

2. Use latest security software: Always install, update and maintain firewalls, anti-virus programs and intrusion detection software, and ensure that your web protection software extends beyond email protection to encompass peer-to-peer networks and can provide warnings about traffic that is incoming and outgoing from your computer in real-time.

3. Look for signs that your information will be secure in an online transaction: Before you enter sensitive data on a webpage, ensure that the site uses encryption - a security measure that helps protect your data as it traverses the Internet. Signs of encryption include a web address with "https" (the "s" stands for "secure") and a closed padlock beside it which might also be in the lower right corner of the window.

4. Use Unique passwords: Always use unique passwords for bank accounts and other important financial transactions. And avoid using the same and save password option everywhere

5. Use strong passwords: Very much recommended and also from time to time, try to change them to be on safer side. Always keep them at least 8 characters long (the longer the password, the better) and should include numbers, symbols, and uppercase and lowercase letters.

6. Don't share your user id and password with anybody: # Never give out passwords or user ID information online unless you know who you are dealing with and why they need it.

7. Check a Website's Digital Certificate: For safe transaction look for digital certificates that authenticate the entity you are dealing with. Independent services such as VeriSign which authenticate the identity of the Website you are visiting. Websites that use this service (usually those that sell items or services online) will have the VeriSign logo. By clicking on the logo, you can be assured that the site is legitimate.

8. Don't do online transactions from shared machines: Always perform confidential transactions on a private and personal computer over a secure wireless network. As we know public wireless networks security is mostly unreliable.

9. Beware of Emails that Ask for Confidential Info: Be aware of all those promotional mails, or unusual alerts from your bank and any third party websites which may also ask you to give your bank details for filing your nomination for any lottery or contest result.

10. Check your Email for Confirmation After doing Online Transaction: After you've made purchases online, check your e-mail. Merchants often send confirmation e-mails or other communications about your order.

By following these steps you can minimize identity theft and can perform safe online transactions.