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"As we gear up for the holiday shopping season, it's important to remain mindful of online identity theft and cybersecurity.\nWhether you're part of the 41% to 45% of consumers concerned about online privacy, computer viruses or identity theft, it doesn't hurt to be aware of how to make yourself more secure.\nAlthough it's tempting to find a deal and splurge during the gift-giving time of year, the five tips below encourage you to be extra cautious while serving as a guide to protecting yourself.\n1. Look for TRUSTe Privacy or Secured Signs\n\nVerify your protection by looking for secure labels when browsing.\nMany websites have TRUSTe affiliations, which require an up-front privacy assurance for customers, and securing browsing, which is donated by \"https\" or a lock icon at the end of the address bar.\nIt's estimated that between 59% to 70% of online shoppers abandon their carts. Many users prefer to browse and come back to their items later, but online safety is also reason why people decide not to follow through with a purchase.\n2. Check Out Without Sharing Banking Information\nPayPal, which has millions of registered users in 190 markets, allows shoppers to send and receive money without giving away personal banking information. Their PayPal account stores this information and they can check out at various ecommerce sites with just their email address and PayPal password.\nPayPal is owned by eBay, and facilitated more than 6.4 million payments per day in the third quarter of 2012.\nBut that's not the only way to pay it safe online. Some credit card companies offer ways to create secure accounts for safer checkouts.\n3. Check Out Website Policies\n\nMany shoppers end up purchasing an item and not being fully satisfied, so what happens when you try to return it? It's important to read the seller's return policies, as well as their private and security policies. Even if the seller doesn't offer protection, some services such as PayPal offer their own purchase protection.\nSometimes hidden fees of restocking and shipping are tacked on, but keep watch for what information they collect.\nThe privacy of your information varies from merchant to merchant, but if the company is bought, your data could be sold as well. For now, double check they're keeping your information to themselves.\n4. Research Companies\nWe know people use online shopping for efficiency, but before you drop hundreds of dollars on your family and friends, do a little research.\nSome reputable and trusted resources can link to ones with weaker security policies, and your information could be compromised. Don't be afraid to shop around before committing to the lowest priced option.\n5. Hide your IP address\n\nOnline users can steal your IP address to track your location and browser.\nAlthough this doesn't seem to be an issue, it can be a step to stealing your identity or more detailed information. Unfortunately, you'll most likely have to download software to completely bar yourself from search engines and third parties such as advertisers.\nImages courtesy of Flickr, Travis Isaac, Andres Rueda, Ivan Walsh, totumweb, dzarro72"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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