TechSmart News sponsored by the Huawei Global Developer Programme

Black Friday is almost here, and as always, in the lead up to the much-anticipated event, many consumers are getting ready for what they are expecting to be another great line up of specials – both online and in physical stores - from various local retailers.

But those who look forward to this massive yearly sale-based event and enjoy the convenience of online Black Friday shopping must be mindful of the fact that sellers are not the only ones on the hunt for buyers. Lurking in the shadows are cybercriminals armed with banking Trojans poised to steal the personal data and payment details of online shoppers over this time.

And if cybercriminals are successful in retrieving personal data, they may be able to withdraw funds from a user’s account or make purchases in their name. The potential of financial losses from such crimes is massive.

To make sure you can enjoy a safe online Black Friday shopping experience, Kaspersky has provided a number of cybersecurity savvy tips to keep you safer when shopping.

• Ensure a reliable and updated security solution is installed on all devices you will be using to shop online – not only during Black Friday, but for any online shopping you undertake
• Avoid buying anything online from websites that look potentially dangerous or which resembles an incomplete version of a trusted brand’s website
• Avoid shopping online on store websites registered on free hosting services
• Carefully study the URLs of pages with forms requesting confidential data. If the address consists of a meaningless set of characters or the URL looks suspicious, do not proceed with the payment
• Do not click on unknown links in emails received or links within social media messages, even if these are from people you know. Cybercriminals try an array of tactics to trick potential online shoppers and fake deals can be a reality here
• Consider getting yourself a separate card for online purchases and don’t keep large sums of money on this card

To help you have a successful and cybersafe Black Friday, TechSmart has partnered with Kaspersky giving our readers the opportunity to win 1 of 3 license codes that up for grabs, to Kaspersky’s latest protection solution – Kaspersky Security Cloud.

To enter, list one recommended tip for a safe online Black Friday shopping experience.

Just tweet your answer to our Twitter account @TechSmartZA with the hashtags #Kaspersky #Cybersecurity before the close of business on the 28^th of November. Winners will be chosen at random and contacted for an email address to which we can send their security code (no physical product will be delivered).  

Winners will be announced by the 29th November 2019 and will receive the required security card via email. Please be advised that only one entry per contestant is needed, and the winner must follow @TechSmartZA on Twitter.

As always, terms and conditions apply. Winner needs to be a resident of South Africa.