FortiGuard Labs researchers have sought to provide tips to shoppers to protect themselves from hackers throughout the holiday season.

As Black Friday and Cyber Monday approach – the two busiest shopping days of the year, researchers at the Lab have preferred to issue tips for safe shopping, both online and at brick-and-mortar stores.

While advising consumers to shop only at those stores they know and trust, the researchers recommend use of credit card as opposed to debit card and only such cards that offer one-time use, time-limited or virtual credit numbers.

When shopping online, the user should ensure that he/she is transmitting financial information via SSL for secure connection, download shopping applications only from an official app store and delete the app that asks for too many details at registration and use a “live CD” or dedicated browser when conducting online searches.

“Holiday shopping is expected to surge this year as compared to the last and this increase is expected from shoppers using smartphones. Therefore, knowing what to watch and taking measures to protect themselves and their device is more critical to avoid being impacted,” says Rajesh Maurya, Country Manager, India and SAARC at Fortinet.

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