•December 16, 2020•
With COVID-19 restrictions around the nation, shopping virtually has become more than just a convenience and it’s important to take steps to stay safe when shopping online, especially at the holidays.
From the convenience of easily making household and grocery purchases to an endless offering of gifts, online shopping has grown in popularity at exponential rates during 2020. Increased online traffic also makes it more lucrative for cyber thieves to trick buyers into scams and steal personal information for financial gain.
“Shopping virtually brings many benefits, including the ability to limit our exposure to COVID-19, but it also opens up shoppers to the myriad of online threats,” stated Jennifer Ricker, Acting Secretary at the Department of Innovation & Technology (DoIT). “We want to help our Illinois residents benefit from the convenience of online shopping, while remaining secure through improved cyber awareness.” Online shopping best practices recommended by the National Cyber Security Alliance include:     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.