Technology

Cyber criminals target online shoppers

Reader\'s Digest warns of cybersecurity threats when online shopping.

Federal News Network Staff

November 23, 2010 3:30 pm

< a min read

Black Friday is the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season. But could online shopping be dangerous to your cybersecurity?

Computer algorithms watch your every move and help predict what you might want to see, but sometimes those helpers have ulterior motives, like selling your information to someone else or using it to invade your shopping privacy.

Reader’s Digest has some tips to keep intruders at bay.

To avoid annoying follow-up emails from retailers, set up a separate email address for all of your online purchases. That way the follow-up emails get sent to a separate account and don’t clutter up your inbox.

And read and understand the privacy policy. If a site does not have a privacy policy or does not make it explicitly clear that they do not under any circumstances share your information, your privacy may be at risk.

This story is part of Federal News Radio’s daily Cybersecurity Update brought to you by Tripwire. For more cybersecurity news, click here.