By Jan Valcke When shopping online, consumers expose themselves to certain risks while disclosing personal or credit card details. Credentials can easily be intercepted by fraudsters who will misuse information for their own personal gains. According to a study conducted by iYogi Insights, the research division of a provider of on-demand tech support services, nearly 30 percent U.S. consumers have been victims of cybercrime, including identity theft, credit card fraud and online scams. According to comScore, U.S. retail ecommerce spending for the first quarter of this year pushed past $44 billion, a 17 percent year-over-year increase. The holiday shopping season is in full force and with the increase in fraudster activities retailers need to protect their online customers. Securing online shopping Today, more consumers are looking for deals online to get the most of their budget, or they simply lack the time to shop during normal business hours. Thanks to competitive pricing, the convenience and tempting offers such as free shipping, the Internet has become the place to shop – and consumers rely on retailers to secure the data used to make their online purchases. How can retailers protect consumers? First, they need to make sure that their storefront uses a secure, strong authentication login process to make purchases. But the most efficient and effective way to protect consumers is to educate them. Educated consumer is secure consumer Here are several tips that retailers can use to educate consumers about ensuring a secure holiday shopping experience. • Encourage consumers to purchase items from a trusted Web site or storefront. Using an unfamiliar Web site and sharing confidential credit card information increases the risk of credit card or identity fraud. Be extra cautious – remember to closely inspect the online channel before making a purchase. This includes reading the general terms and conditions, contact information as well as checking shipping and additional costs. • Does the offer sound too good to be true? If so, it probably is. Consumers should not click on emails or Web links from unfamiliar senders with offers too good to be true because they are maybe scams. • Convince them to shop as securely as possible. Encourage shoppers to take a few minutes to make sure the anti-virus and anti-spyware software on their electronic devices is up-to-date. Persuade them to shop as securely as possible. • Shopping from work also puts consumers at risk. In recent years, employees have increased their personal shopping activities from their work devices, relying on IT departments to secure their transactions. It is important to make sure that all of the security software on their work devices has been updated before making a purchase. • Consumers should only shop at Web sites that use trusted environments. When shopping online, they need to look for sites that use secure and trusted payment systems to prevent fraudsters from intercepting personal and financial credentials. • Purchases should not be made from public devices. Many times these devices are not adequately protected. This includes the use of public Wi-Fi as cyber criminals are lurking here and can easily tap into them. • Strong passwords must always be used to protect personal and account information. Strong passwords are randomly generated by authentication devices, cannot be reused and are only valid for a limited amount of time. BY IMPROVING security awareness and educating the consumer, retailers can help them to mitigate the risks, ensuring a secure and safe online holiday shopping experience. Jan Valcke is president and chief operating officer of VASCO Data Security, Wemmel, Belgium. Reach him at jan.valcke@vasco.com.