Online Purchasing (WXP-Pro)

[tashrul]

How can I be 100% sure that it is safe to submit my credit card number online?

[tom_keefer]

Nothing is 100% certain. You need to check out the online merchants you would like to use. Sites such as Amazon.com, Computer4SURE (owned by Office Depot), ZipZoomFly (Google's online store), etc. (you get the idea) are about as safe as you can get. It's kinda like checking out a car dealer. /images/forums/icons/laugh.gif

<font color=purple>Tom</font color=purple>

ya'aa'tey

[Xavier_Ao]

If you see <font color=blue>https://</font color=blue> instead of the normal <font color=blue>http://</font color=blue> then it's supposed to be secure.
Usually they have something you can click on to verify the type of security/encryption they use or it's in an ordering FAQ for their site.
Double-click the padlock symbol on the bottom of an IE window to view the security info for the page.

Of course, ordering from a known reputable site is usually the safest, but still not 100%

Always glad to help!
Josh /images/forums/icons/smile.gif

You know why they called it <font color=blue>Windows</font color=blue>?
Because as soon as it opens, all the bugs get in.

[Jimbo_Jitsu]

No safe bet. Although most of the big companies spend lots of money protecting your data, once it is on their end however you still have the possiblity of hackers getting you number from their database. If you must shop online use a card with a low limit. The damage to you will be reduced.

[SystemEngineer]

I would not worry about hackers getting your details from company databases (along as they are Reputable), the worry is your computer; one should endeavour to configure either Netscape or Internet Explorer to the highest standard. Also choose an NT based operating system i.e. NT, 2000, XP, 2003.
Also encrypting your hard drive is a good idea, so if their are any files which have traces of online transactions they will be useless to hackers; use FIPs encryption on 2000 and XP.

A strong firewall is a good idea, and make sure your computer is update with patches etc.

Two bank accounts are often a good idea, your main account and an account you use for online orders. This way if you want to buy a CD for x amount of money you can transfer the funds from your main account to your online account; this way even if you got hacked the hacker would only get the x amount of money.