3 Keys to Secure Mobile Shopping
1. Use Your Mobile Apps–Not Your Web Browser
Most major and many smaller ecommerce sites have their own
mobile application to not only help you find what you want, but to allow you to
buy what you want securely. The best way to keep your information secure is to
only purchase through a mobile application (as opposed to a live website) every
time you pay for something via mobile device.
This may sound extreme, but there is a method behind the
reasoning. The simple fact is that web browsers just aren’t as secure as mobile
applications. The risk doubles if you’re using a public WiFi hotspot.
If you’re set up in a coffee shop, using WiFi, T-Mobile’s 4G
coverage map or your carrier’s 3G network to order that luxury watch you’ve
always wanted, just be sure to use an app, and buy from trusted vendors only.
Using a mobile app also provides safety from keyloggers,
viruses, and other malicious software that can invade your privacy and record
your logins (yes, this type of software exists for mobile devices too!).
What’s that? You say your favorite online shopping spot
doesn’t have its own mobile app? It will soon enough. Until that time, protect
yourself by shopping only when on your secure, password-protected home network.
2. Make Sure You’re Using the Best App for the Job
In other words, never download or use a third-party
application for your mobile device-based shopping. Instead, you should always
obtain the appropriate app directly from the Google Play Store or Apple Apps.
Keep in mind that the occasional rogue app does sneak into
these stores at times. It happens with Google Play more often than with Apple.
In either case, verify the publisher of the application before you download it.
If it doesn’t match up with the online store’s business name or parent company,
contact the site’s customer support before you download the app.
3. Lock Your Device
Crazy Egg blog recently published a post on some very
innovative mobile solutions for e-commerce that’s worth checking out. Whether
your applications store your payment information on the device or on your
favorite merchant’s servers, most ecommerce mobile apps allow anyone to make a
purchase by simply tapping your device’s screen.
Unfortunately, this also means that anyone who somehow gets
their hand on your device can tank your bank account in a single afternoon!
Mobile devices get lost. Especially phones. It’s just a fact of life, and while
most people are honest enough to hand your phone in to the nearest lost and
found, not everybody is. So it’s essential that you passcode-protect your
device.
With Apple devices, this means a password, four-digit code,
or even your fingerprint. Android users can choose between a password and a
customized trace pattern. In either case, the most important thing is that you
secure your device against intrusion. Add a passcode feature–and make your
device require it for every use.
Shop via mobile app instead of directly on the web. Avoid
shopping via public wireless networks when possible. Make sure you’re using a
safe, authorized application directly from the Apple or Google app store.
Always keep your device security locked.
As long as you follow these three security measures, you’ll
be 1,000% safer with your mobile shopping than you were before.
