More people are jostling for cyberspace to do their shopping. Being able to purchase goods without having to drive to stores, weave through the traffic, and queue at checkout counters is surely appealing for many. But with rising Web threats, is online shopping safe?

Secure online shopping

ONE issue that bothers consumers more than anything else when shopping online is the security of online transactions. When it comes to making payments, many consumers are still wary about sending their credit card and other personal information across the Net.

Identity theft, data security breaches and phishing continue to top the list of consumer concerns, says David Freer, vice president for consumer business, Asia-Pacific and Japan, Symantec Corp. The online business environment, according to him, is troubled by an increase in data theft, data leakage and the creation of malicious code targeting information that can be used for financial gains.

In Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR) XII, the company saw a shift in the methods and focus of attacks from the previous year where attackers are becoming increasingly commercial in focus and exploiting trusted Web sites.

“All of these threats undermine trust in digital commerce, which is why businesses have to take necessary steps to reduce customer concerns about shopping and banking online,” Freer highlights.

Protection tools. Freer says that businesses are becoming more aware and are taking steps to protect consumers against these threats.

Consumers, meanwhile, should exercise the necessary precautions when sharing credit card information to make online shopping a safe and enjoyable experience. Armed with the necessary protection tools, consumers can continue to communicate and transact business online with confidence.

“Shopping online is very secure as long as you’re careful,” states Freer.

He advises consumers to shop only with Web sites or e-merchants that offer secure transactions.

“Some Web sites are ‘certified secure’ and display a certificate on their homepage or at checkout. The certificate is issued by a variety of organisations, including Verisign, DigiCert, and Go Daddy. What it means is that the Web site offers SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) security,” he says.

Another way to increase safety is to make sure that the page where you enter your personal data (such as password or credit card number) uses encryption. The Web address on such a page starts with “https”. A padlock icon on your browser’s frame also indicates that the site uses encryption.

Also, it will be good to check the merchant’s privacy policy, which should be available on the site, and be sure that your data won’t be used in a way of which you don’t approve.

Freer further advises consumers to protect their interactions by using up-to-date Internet security software that combines fraud site protection and Web site authentication.

Payment gateway. At the electronic merchants end, one of the most important decisions to be made is choosing a payment gateway provider, says Freer. While the gateway transaction is seamless to the customer, to those concerned about security, it is anything but invisible.

Payment gateway enables online merchants to accept online payments via credit card and electronic cheques and is responsible for taking the submitted billing information from a customer’s computer, through the merchant’s server, and on to the merchant’s account at a processing bank.

“Merchants must choose a payment gateway provider that maintains its operations in state-of-the-art data centres and utilises the latest security methods. They should also be fully compliant with major credit card providers’ security initiatives, including the Visa Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP), MasterCard Site Data Protection (SDP), and Discover Information Security and Compliance (DISC),” he explains.

Just as merchants expect gateway providers to adhere to high security standards, the business itself should follow a stringent security guideline, states Freer.

Threat contained. Victor Lo, principal consultant-technology, Trend Micro (M) Sdn Bhd, believes online banking and shopping is safe for this part of the world where threats are not as widespread as the rest of the world.

“It is important to note that all locally based online banking and shopping facilities practice high levels of protection and vetting to verify payment details and assure consumers that their details are kept private and confidential,” says Lo.

“Two years ago, the online phenomenon was not as popularly adopted as it is today. Therefore it is great that the increase in the number of users has encouraged service providers to upgrade their systems and implement more security software.”

He adds that these software and systems generally request for passwords. However, online payments often request for further verification, such as billing addresses and additional verification numbers that is only known to the cardholder.

Still, Lo cautions, there are identity thefts and security breaches. Users should protect their machines with security software.

Treading carefully. Consumers should keep in mind that before parting with their money, one should be sure of the site’s authenticity. Lo says each bank has different authenticity checks and eventually, all the online purchase payments are verified by the respective banks which issue the credit cards.

“The most threatening situation for users would be Web site hijack. This is when the perpetrator dupes an authentic Web site that is related to banking or shopping. An innocent user whose machine has already been planted with spyware would automatically direct him to the duplicate Web site where pop-ups would ask for usernames and passwords for updating or security purposes.”

Lo also states that merchants have to constantly update their technology and security software to combat the rising Web threat situation.

“Their IT personnel should keep abreast with the latest virus news and threat patterns, as these threats, once successfully carried out, are emulated by others around the world. Their security software providers must be innovative industry players who keep a 24/7 tab on the threat activity across the regions,” he says.

More shop on the Web

The Net has become the best place for convenient and comparison shopping. It comes as no surprise that a recent global survey conducted by The Nielsen Company showed that online shopping has become a popular choice for the world’s online population. Also, online shoppers have grown exponentially compared to two years ago.

When the first survey into online shopping habits was conducted two years ago by the information and media company, it showed that only 10 per cent of the world’s online population (627 million) had made a purchase over the Internet. Within two years, this number has grown by approximately 40 per cent to 875 million.

Over 85 per cent of the world’s online population has used the Internet to make a purchase and more than half of the Internet users are regular online shoppers, making online purchases at least once a month.

The Nielsen Global Online Survey is the largest survey of its kind on the topic of Internet shopping habits and was conducted from October to November last year. It polled 26,312 Internet users in 48 markets from Europe, Asia-Pacific, North America and the Middle East.

The one-click convenience of researching about products/services, comparing prices and buying anytime, according to the survey, has got the most attention from South Korean consumers. About 99 per cent of Internet users in South Korea have shopped online. Coming in second are consumers from Germany, United Kingdom and Japan.

The South Korean Internet users are also the most frequent online purchasers. The slowest adopters for online shopping come from Egypt, where 67 per cent of the online population have never made a purchase over the Internet, followed by Pakistan (60 per cent) and the Philippines (55 per cent).

Based on the Nielsen report, online consumers are buying a variety of products and services with increasing frequency. While books are the favourite items purchased online, there are significant purchase growth in other categories such as clothing/accessories/shoes, videos/DVDs/games, airline tickets and electronic equipment.

In the past two years, consumers buying books over the Internet has increased seven per cent. Some of the biggest buyers of books online are from countries such as China, Brazil, Vietnam and Egypt, indicating growth opportunities for online retailers to focus on these markets.

Other significant growth categories are cosmetics/nutrition supplies and groceries, which jumped nine and eight per cent respectively.

The Internet is also a popular place to shop for air travel. Interest in buying airline tickets/reservations online grew three per cent over the past two years, making travel the fourth most popular shopping category on the Web.

The Nielsen report also states that the credit card is the most common method of payment used by Asian and Latin American online shoppers. About 60 per cent of global online consumers used their credit card for a recent online purchase, while one in four online consumers chose PayPal.

Debit cards are most popular among UK (59 per cent) and US (40 per cent) online shoppers.

Ebay attracts Malaysians

Malaysians are no strangers to online shopping and trading. A great number have come to appreciate the convenience and recognise the opportunities of buying and selling online. The recent increase in the number of Malaysians registered on eBay, a leading online marketplace, gives a clear indication of how comfortable they have become with trading online.

Ebay announced recently that close to 12,000 new members registered on eBay.com.my in the first 30 days following the launch of its upgraded site in Malaysia in November last year.

For secure payment, eBay recently collaborated with MOL AccessPortal to launch MOL SafePay in Malaysia. MOL SafePay is an escrow-based secure payment solution that facilitates person-to-person fund transfer securely on eBay.com.my, enabling safe online purchases and sales to be carried out.