More tips for safe online shopping from Comcast

Jay Opperman, Senior Director of Security and Privacy at Comcast offers some tips for safe online shopping  that I have summarized below.  The link to Jay's post is:

http://blog.comcast.com/2010/12/tis-the-season-to-shop-safely.html

Tip 1: Use anti-virus and anti-phishing software and tools -- Install active and up-to-date reputable anti-virus software on all computers to detect and remove viruses and keyloggers that can steal your identity when using credit cards or banking online. Make sure to also install anti-phishing software to ensure you don't get tricked by these kinds of online scams. Some Internet Service Providers, like Comcast, provide free anti-virus software...

Tip 2: "S" means "secure" -- When shopping on the Web, be sure you see "HTTPS://" (the "S" stands for "secure") at the beginning of the URL for any site where you plan to enter financial information. Look for a lock or a similar icon in the browser indicating that you are connected to a secure site.

Tip 3: Secure your wireless network -- It's important to secure access to home or personal networks with a password to make sure that others cannot access any personal information by hopping on to your wireless network. Remember, strong passwords have eight or more characters that combine numbers, symbols and letters.

Tip 4: Be careful on what you click -- If you receive an unsolicited commercial e-mail, do not open any attached file whose name ends in ".exe." Clicking on such files could activate a virus that could infect your computer. In addition, don't click on links in e-mails for online retailers instead type the URL directly into your browser.

Tip 5: Above all, be skeptical -- If an online offer seems too good to be true, it could be a scam which is why you should shop from the online retailers that your trust.

Shopping Safely Online - Cyber Security Tip ST07-001

This tip was just published on the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team web site just in time for the holiday shopping season.  This year is shaping up to be a record year for ecommerce so the advice is even more important than ever.  

Many of the tips, including "Use and maintain anti-virus software..."  are things we know, but a it's a good idea to refresh our memory.

"Online shopping has become a popular way to purchase items without the hassles of traffic and crowds. However, the internet has unique risks, so it is important to take steps to protect yourself when shopping online."

Read the full article with all the tips here:

http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST07-001.html

Companies Are Taking Responsibility for the Security of Their Own Online Communities

Recently, some articles in the mainstream press caught my eye because they were consistent with a change I’ve noticed in the way the world is reacting to the persistent, and perhaps growing, threats to PC security.  The trend I am noticing is an increasing effort by companies to take responsibility for the community of users that they support.  This is in contrast to the ‘every person for him(her)self approach that has been there from the beginning and still predominates.  

Comcast has been a leader in taking responsibility for their users’ security.  For a few years now they have offered antivirus protection to their subscribers for free - or rather included with their monthly fee for their ISP service. Subscribers were able to download and use an off-the-shelf antivirus product for every computer in their home at no extra charge.  It’s a nice service and is a good way for Comcast to encourage good security habits of it’s subscriber base.  What we don’t know is how many people took advantage of this offer, but presumably a fair number did.  Facebook is another high-profile company that is starting to take responsibility for the security of their users by promoting an antivirus solution.

Now Comcast is taking on more responsibility for their users’ security.  A September 30, 2010 NY Times entitled  “Comcast to Protect Customer’s Computers from Malware” describes how Comcast is taking the responsibility for ensuring an additional level of protection for their subscribers.  A link to the article is here.   In this latest development, Comcast is taking the protection they offer their subscribers a step further and applying a network-wide effort to detect, and shut down botnets.  Botnets are only a piece of the security puzzle - others include identity theft, data theft, data loss - but they are an increasingly important piece and the approach of taking advantage of a network-wide view of the problem has a lot of advantages.

In any event, Comcast has several incentives for taking on the responsibility for better security.  One is so that they can provide a better, more appealing service and help maintain their brand.  Another if financial.  Much of the traffic that travels over their networks is a direct result of malware.  Eliminating it allows them to provide better service to legitimate users with less investment in faster networks.  

Scott Charney, Microsoft's corporate vice president for trustworthy computing takes this community responsibility for protecting people a step further.  The TG Daily article “Microsoft wants 'sick' PCs banned from the internet” found here, describes that Mr. Charney “argues that the world needs a common health policy that prevents malware-infected machines from connecting to the internet.  Mr. Charney explains that “"This approach involves implementing a global collective defense of internet health much like what we see in place today in the world of public health."  

Mr. Charney’s suggestion makes sense as a successful model to follow, but I suspect that before we see anything like this happen, we will see many more companies like Comcast and Facebook offer to help protect their communities closer to home.