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Internet Caution On The Rise
John Stith
Staff Writer
2005-10-31
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Consumer confidence is always a major factor in judging the state of the economy. Recent studies gauge consumer confidence and usage in the Internet. These studies show more people are using the Internet and more people are making purchases online. It also shows those people are much more cautious about all their online business.
 | | Caution Grows on the Internet |  |
Editor's Note What kind of confidence do you have in doing business online? What are your security concerns? Tell us about it in the Security Forum on WebProWorld.
The U.S. Census Bureau said 55% of households had access to the Internet in 2003, more than triple the total in 1997. The figures also said Internet purchases were with 32% of Internet users buying goods and services, up significantly from the 2% of 1997.
What this means is while many more people are doing business online for banking, retail purchases, financial investments and many other things, the potential to do real damage to people is also on the rise. With phishing scams, ID fraud and many companies and banks not as secure as they should be, Internet shoppers must be savvy in their decisions on where and when they give out their personal information.
Unfortunately, while the government makes some reports, they generally fail to force companies like financial institutions to report breaches in security. California is the only state with such a law so that means one's financial stability could be in jeopardy and never know it.
What can consumers do? Encrypted sites are one of the best defenses. Many sites utilizing online payment methods are fairly secure, certainly more so than using your credit/debit card over the course of daily grind. Restaurants and other establishments have a written record of your credit card, with the card number, authorizations, signatures and everything you need.
Another thing is keeping an eye on your credit records and bank statements. Recent studies show cleaning up a mess can cost thousands of dollars and about a week's worth of time. That doesn't even count the retailer involved.
Retailers can choose to offer the encrypted option or just go with a regularly encrypted payment method. It could save you headache in the long run because the credit cards guarantee a hassle-free policy regarding fraud. The credit card companies aren't going to take the hit so the retailers will.
In the end, preventing this type of fraud should be a multi faceted assault. It should involve individual consumers, the businesses the frequent, the banks they use, Internet security firms and governmental aid in the form of laws and police action against these crimes. Only then might we see an improvement in cyber crime.
About the Author:
John is a staff writer for SecurityProNews covering cyber security.
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