Would-be online shoppers need not worry about the
safety of their online transactions, as encryption technology evolves and
crackdowns on fraudulent businesses increase, according to some of the
industry’s biggest players.
“Buying online is as safe, if not safer, than the offline world,” said
Robert L. Smith, Jr, executive director of shop.org, who sat on a panel of a recent
chat hosted by theglobe.com. He was
joined by Ken Casser, digital commerce analyst for Jupiter Communications.
“I know of no instances in which credit card numbers were stolen in
transmission,” Casser said. “Presumably, hackers could intercept a number
as it travels through the Internet. But from what I understand, the
encryption is so strong that it would take days to decode the SSL (secure
socket layer) transmission. Essentially, SSL encryption puts a nearly
impenetrable shell around your credit card number.”
As online shopping becomes more mainstream, industry standards are
improving security as well. BBBonline, the Internet arm of the The Better
Business Bureau, certifies sites to protect against fraudulent merchants,
said panel member Paul Confrey, vice president of e-commerce at Mastercard. When it comes to fraud
however, he said it’s the merchants who lose more often than the consumer.
“Merchants are seeing a lot of stolen card numbers, but most of the stolen
numbers were ripped off in the
real world,” commented Confrey. “The biggest problem with fraud on the Web
today (measured by dollars lost) is theft from merchants, not theft from
shoppers.”
Jupiter Communications reported that 65 percent of those who have already
made online purchases still consider security a major issue. “Not
surprisingly, it is an even bigger concern for those who have not yet
bought,” Casser added. But because of word-of-mouth and media reports, the
e-commerce starting to take off.
The best tool to protect yourself is common sense, according to all the
panel members.
“Good judgement is always a good rule of thumb. Stick with merchants that
you’re familiar with,” said Casser.
