Huge Security Breaches Make Online Shoppers Extremely Wary
- Learning that there have been huge online security breaches makes consumers very anxious.
CITE: Bits.blogs.nytimes.com
Just when you are convinced that it is absolutely safe to shop online there is news of computer security breaches on eBay and Amazon and other sites reporting that, whoops, the consumer’s information has been compromised..
The recent breaches at 6PM and Zappos have potentially compromised the account information for 24 million customers, which is the biggest breach of an online retailer since Sony was under cyber-attack in 2011. That situation compromised 100 million customer accounts.
This is disturbing to say the least considering that Amazon and eBay and other online retailers who are considered the most reliable sites online and who pay handsomely to keep hackers at bay are not able to protect their customers’ personal information.
When a breach of this nature and extent occurs the computer security experts and the companies that were hacked often tell the customer that it is their responsibility to protect their data that is kept in the company’s servers.
Tony Hsieh, the chief executive of Zappos, reports that the names of customers as well as phone numbers, encrypted passwords, email addresses, mailing addresses as well as the last four digits of their credit card number may have been stolen during the attack. However, he added that the company immediately reset passwords and a database that is separate and which contains critical credit card detail was not breached.
Millions of consumers love the convenience of shopping online, particularly when they are ensured that their personal information is safe when making purchases. However, the news of these huge breaches is shaking the confidence of online shoppers who may think twice before buying something online in the future.
MY TAKE:
When shopping online, use different passwords on different sites. Do not use email addresses as user names and come up with a very unique password for every site that you make purchases from. Do not save payment and personal information and details online. Yes, it may seem like a hassle to use (and remember) different passwords for every site but if it provides you with more online safety and security it is worth the inconvenience.
Online merchants must do their part to protect the identity and personal information of their customers but consumers must do their part as well. It is far better to spend more time devising strong passwords than it is to find out that your personal information has been stolen.