HYDERABAD : How safe are you online? 83% of respondents from Hyderabad feel that payments made on online/apps are always safe. This was revealed in India Digital Wellness Report conducted by Norton Lifelock, a consumer cyber safety firm. The online survey was conducted over 1,500 city-dwelling Indian adults including Hyderabad exploring consumer awareness of security threats related to financial transactions and their resulting behaviour.
The report found that nearly seven in 10 (68%) of responding consumers making financial transactions online are willing to save their personal bank details on the websites they trust, while more than eight in 10 (83%) think financial fraud and data theft are the biggest threat to online banking.
According to the findings, 80% respondents from Hyderabad are wary of unsecured websites and random apps as they pose financial fraud risk. They say convenience and time-saving are the top motivators for making online transactions, as consumers make the maximum online financial transactions for shopping (91%) closely followed by bill payments (88%). City-based millennials engage in more financial transactions online (98%) than any other generation surveyed, closely followed by Gen X (97%) and Gen Z (94%). They suggest the following:
Use strong passwords: Don’t reuse your passwords. Make them complex and pick a random word that includes a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols.
Stay software updated:
Cyber criminals frequently use known exploits, or flaws, in your software to gain access to your system. Patching those exploits and flaws can help make it less likely that you’ll become a cybercrime target.
Have secure sessions: Make sure the shopping site URL begins with ‘https’, or that the browser bar contains the locked padlock symbol or is green. These signs mean that your information is encrypted and therefore harder for a hacker to access. Use legitimate official apps from the financial institution.
Think Before You Click: Be on the lookout for phishing efforts and questionable offers. Don’t click on dubious mail or message links or open attachments from an unknown source. They might take you to a site that asks you to reveal personal information, or that puts malware on your device.
Beware of fake websites: Only use sites that you know and trust or have been recommended by people you know. Phony shopping sites can be hard to tell apart from the genuine ones, and even legitimate sites can be hijacked. Check the site address carefully for subtle differences, like minor errors in spelling or grammar.
Use security suite:
Invest in a security suite that offers real-time protection against existing and emerging malware including ransomware and viruses to help protect your information when online.