The Internet has made our lives easier and comfortable through some aspects like online shopping. When there are advantages there are equal disadvantages coming along our way. Identity theft is one of the major concerns while doing business online. We need to be sure whether our transactions are safe and secure. There are times when people have second thoughts on whether their credit card information is safe.
Businesses have a repository of customers’ information, called the personally identifiable information (PII). The information includes social security numbers, birth dates, credit card numbers, contact addresses, and many more. This personal and private information is collected and maintained in databases for different purposes. The personally identifiable information is stolen which leads to identity theft.
How to prevent credit card theft while shopping online?
Credit card fraud is a very important concern as a part of identity theft. There are possible ways to prevent the act of credit card fraud. When you do an online transaction through a website,
- The first and foremost thing is to check whether it is a secured website or not.
- Secured websites have “https” along with the URL.
- The purpose of https is to maintain secure communication over the internet.
- In websites having https along with the URL, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is layered on top of an additional SSL
SSL Certificate and its purpose:
- SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encrypts communications between the web browser and the webserver.
- It helps to prevent credit card theft and other fraudulent activities.
- Sensitive information like credit card numbers, when transmitted through the internet needs security.
- All these sensitive and private information are encrypted by SSL for security purposes,
- SSL certificate checks on the identity of the websites.
- The checking and validation of websites take place on different degrees depending on the type of certificate the website owner purchases.
- It also varies from each SSL certificate provider.
Certification Authority:
- A Certification Authority (CA) is an organization that provides SSL certificates.
- These certificates, issued by the CA are trustworthy as its function is to confirm the identity of the entity.
- In order to avoid identity theft, an authorized SSL certificate is essential for the website wherein the customer’s information is requested through the website, for example, transactions through online shopping sites.
- The CA contains both signed certificates as well as canceled certificates. A certificate is secure only when it is signed, which cannot be modified.
Conclusion:
So when you are doing a transaction, check whether it is a secured website, to protect your transaction from identity theft.