Indian Netizens Vulnerable To Cyber Fraud

A survey of more than 5,000 active Internet users across 10 cities in India
suggests that users are becoming increasingly concerned about online security.
91 percent of the respondent Internet users have experienced some case of cyber
fraud, such as phishing, key logging, identity theft and account takeover.
Despite the exposure to cyber fraud, a majority of respondents were unaware of
ways to combat it.

The survey, commissioned by VeriSign and conducted by IMRB highlighted that
60 percent of respondents access the Internet frequently-at least four to six
times a week-and 44 percent shop online with 53 percent engaging with user
generated content (eg social networks and blogs). Additionally, an overwhelming
84 percent would like to use two factor authentication (2FA) to secure their
online transactions. 2FA is a verification process in which an additional
dynamic password is generated at the log in stage by a device such as a
credit-card form factor, token or mobile phone in addition to the user name and
password.

Tips for a safer online experience:

• Look for visual cues. Prominent misspellings and frequent grammatical
  errors are signs that a website is fraudulent. Cues include a green address
  bar in high-security browsers such as Internet Explorer 7 and 8, Firefox 3.0
  and higher, Opera 9.X and higher, Google Chrome, Safari 3.2, Safari 4, social
  networking browsers and the iPhone. Other visual cues include a padlock icon
  in either the lower or upper right-hand corner of the screen and https:// in
  the browser; both of these indicate the site is secured.
• Check out two-factor authentication. A growing number of sites are
  accepting a second form of user authentication that comes from physical
  devices such as a token, credit-card form factor, a USB drive and even your
  cell phone. Each device provides users with a dynamic one-time password that
  must be entered into a login page in addition to their user name and password.
  The extra layer of security hinders potential fraudsters from accessing
  personal accounts that are accessed by a simple user name and password by
  adding a second factor of user authentication.
  

  Despite respondents being Internet-savvy, the survey further revealed

  38 percent of survey respondents use the same passwords for multiple log-ins 11 percent look out for the authenticity of the website by looking at the security provider 32 percent create a secret question that only they can answer 83 percent do not look for secure websites (https:)

• Compare the checkout experience to well-known sites and look for
  anomalies. Most well-run websites-such as Amazon or eBay-send order
  confirmation, shipping confirmation e-mails and allow you to print out
  confirmations of your orders.
• Read their ratings and reviews from other customers and take red flags
  seriously. Also make sure you have some way of contacting them-look for a
  phone number and mailing address. Finally, try to find out where the company
  is based in their 'about us' section.
• Pay attention to the order form. The site should not ask for more than
  your name, shipping address, billing address, credit card type, number and
  expiration. Data such as social security number, bank routing number, etc
  should not be collected.

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