Shop - Is Shopping Online Secure?

Is shopping online becoming popular and safe enough for you and I to do the vast majority of our shopping on the Internet?

Is shopping online becoming popular and safe enough for you and I to do the vast majority of our shopping on the Internet?

As I contemplated, when I initially set up my website: www.shopshopshop.org The first thought that came to mind was will they come and will they spend money? Sure people are always curious and some will visit but will they stay long enough to spend some money?

Safety was the first concern of those I had spoken to, they were somewhat skeptical and therefore reluctant to make any online purchases. It is our responsibility as online marketers to convince them to about the safety of online shopping.

We all know about the convenience of getting on the computer and viewing the sale that retailers are using to entice the shoppers into making a commitment. But are not always as eager to go ahead and complete the purchase online.

The internet today is as safe or safer than making purchase in person, I recently read an article where BJ Wholesalers was fined by the Securities and Exchange Commission for not having sufficient security to protect Credit Card users.

Most of the buying we do today is pay for by either a credit card or a debit card. So If you think that when you purchase gas and pay for it at the pump with your credit card or debit card that you are making a safe purchase think again.

I recently purchase gas at my favorite gas station and paid for it at the pump with my debit card, only to find out two weeks later when the bank call me to question some of purchases that were charge to my debit card.

It seems that somebody was making purchases that were very uncharacteristic for me. And the institution where I have been banking for many years was able to detect this and all my money was refunded and a new card issued.

I was fortunate in the incident just described, but back to online shopping, most of the retailers that do business online have very good security to protect the buyers. After all they would rather you make your purchases online,

Online shopping is much more profitable for the stores and safer and besides no shoplifting takes place on the internet, so the store want to protect this revenue source by making it safe as well as convenient.

Another willing partner is the credit card companies themselves they want you and I to continue using the plastic, and are doing all they can to protect the credit card user.

In our website we have a page titled credit card fraud protection, with direct links to the major credit card companies website and anti fraud page, so that shoppers can read what the credit card companies are doing to protect them from fraud and identity theft.

As more and more people become aware of the security measures being undertaken to protect them, they will avail themselves of the convenience of doing their shopping online and use the time they save for pleasure and family activities.

People today are always in a hurry and don’t usually have time to wait on long lines for cashier to ring them up, when they can accomplish the same thing without leaving the house.

This is more attractive to younger active people would rather play a round of golf or a couple of sets of tennis than fight the maddening crowds.

Posted from http://information-technology.smartads.info/

10 Backup ESSENTIALS for all Webmasters

More and more webmasters nowadays do not value the importance of a complete website backup. Chances are, they are doomed.

More and more webmasters nowadays do not value the importance of a complete website backup (files and databases). They have left this to chance and good luck which poses a great risk to their online presence.

Can you relate to this? Then read this important article which might save you an arm and a leg later.

Web site backup is the most ignored task of the webmasters simply because it poses no immediate threat to them until something worse happen to their hosting server. Many times, this task is set aside, delayed and even regarded as nuisance to the busy website owner.

They just don't realize what is at stake here.

So before your website is wiped out of the internet by unexpected accidents like server breakdowns, harddisk failures, hacking and DDOS attacks among other bad things, let me share with you the 10 Backup E-S-S-E-N-T-I-A-L-S you should not live without online.

EXPECT - Know that your webhosting company (even the biggest and the most boastful out there) may encounter problems and that your diligence to backup will pay off later on. Online computing has never been so unpredictable that the worse of times will happen when you least expect it. With the proper mindset, you are insuring the continuity of your online endeavor in any eventualities. In short, be ready.

SCHEDULE - Your backup process should not compete with your busy schedules. Create your own backup schedule at the most convenient time for you in the week. If you're like me, I do this during lunch and dinner times. Sometimes, I have to leave my PC overnight working on the backups. If you can make it not to conflict with your busy schedules, you will be able to keep up with the demands of this job. In short, don't complicate.

STICK with it - Just do it. Patience is key to your backup tasks. Once you have a schedule, stick with it. You must do this diligently every time it should happen. This is a tough challenge especially to busy people working online. But the sooner you discipline yourself and make backing up your files a habit, the more you will benefit from a worry-free online environment. In short, get a good habit.

EVALUATE - After a while, test your backup files. A good backup can be tested by simply restoring it on another system. Evaluating your backup results from time to time is good way to know that you are keeping what you should keep - a good and working backup. In short, be sure.

NO Complacency - After some time, your backup schedule may slip away and you will tend to forget or intentionally miss it. Don't succumb to this temptation. Man has never been so busy in his lifetime like it is today in this era of the high tech trends, new developments and discoveries. In short, don't be lazy to backup.

TRASH - Know which files to keep and not to keep. You need to do this to keep your backup process as short and as efficient as possible. It also saves you valuable resources like hard disk space and backup mediums. Backup only what you need. Keep out the trash and dump it. In short, don't sweat with the trash.

INTUITION - Have faith in your backup results. Believe that what you are doing is for your own good later on. Like vitamins that keep your body healthy, backups keeps your mind away from stress and worries. A good working backup will make you smile even on the worst of times because you are insured by your patience. In short, believe in good results.

AUTOMATE - Look for alternatives to traditional backup process that can make your life simpler. There are several technologies and softwares you can use now to generate the fastest and safest backup files you will need to restore in case of emergency without you lifting a finger. Automation is king in this lazy man's world. In short, be efficient.

LIBERATE - Free yourself from worries and anxiety of the unexpected. A death sentence that can be prevented will not kill you. So think about what you can do more (like sleeping more at night) than to think about what harm may come. With your own backup systems established, you can retire at night calmly knowing the next day, if you don't see your websites as you should, you know you can publish it back within the day even if your webhost cannot recover it for you. In short, relax and enjoy life to the max.

SECURITY - Nothing beats the feeling of being secured. This is the reason why the insurance businesses have flourished over the years. But more importantly, your commitment to backup your files will not only save you from stress, humiliation, frustration, anger and guilt, but also lift your spirit and confidence because you know at the end of the day, your self reliance is well worth it.

And that, my friend, is a great and wonderful feeling.

Posted from http://information-technology.smartads.info/

SSL Certificates-What they are?

With the growth of the internet and e-commerce, the online threats have also increased. Here I would like to give you some insight on how to prevent ourselves from such threats by using ssl certificates.

There is hardly any doubt that the Internet has successfully created new opportunities for e-commerce. However, that expansion has also attracted cyber criminals. This industry is always on the threshold of new threats from hackers. This is where a fraudulent web site impersonating a legitimate business attempts to woo unsuspecting visitors into divulging personal information. Until now we don’t have a solution of this problem, but now we have a wonderful solution in shape of a Secure Sockets Layer.

Secure Sockets Layer which is also known as “SSL certificates” is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This digital certificate is used with the most popular security protocol on the Internet. Without this encryption, packets of data travel networks in full view. Anyone can see the data and manipulate it to imitate other users.

Today maximum e – commerce sites are using this digital certificates to keep secure their customers valuable information. That’s why when we make a purchase on the Web and notice the closed lock icon at the bottom of our browser or the HTTPS:// prefix in the URL, it means now all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private and integral.

Today gaining the trust of online customers is vital for the success of any e-commerce based business. Now any web server company can enable “SSL Certificates” in their web server and secure their data by using four simple steps.

These steps are:

1) Obtain SSL Certificate(s),

2) Produce a Certificate Signing Request,

3) Register for a SSL server certificate,

4) Establish the SSL server certificates.

Some time many companies find problem to manage their multiple sub domains security. For them there is another certificate is present which manage secure multiple websites with a single certificate. We call this wildcard certificate. This certificate is a cost effective and well-organized way of securing multiple sub domains without the need to manage multiple certificates. You may get ssl certificates, digital certificates, and verisign certificates from places like www.ssl.com , and other sites on the net.

When VeriSign issues an SSL Certificate it acts as a Certification Authority (CA). It digitally signs each certificates. Each browser contains a list of Certification Authorities to be trusted. When the SSL handshake occurs, the browser verifies that the server certificate was issued by a trusted CA.

Posted from http://information-technology.smartads.info/