December 5, 2017
Have you ever been to a website trying to purchase an item that you can't find anywhere else and it somewhat looks suspicious? Does the writing look off or does it seem like they are asking for too much attention? If you have ever felt that way, chances are you stumbled onto a fake website. Websites like these will often try to replicate a legitimate website by having a log-in screen and eventually a spot to enter your credit card info if it poses as an e-commerce website. This term is called "phishing." The way this works is, an end user will go to a website and try to enter in all the information that it is asking for, and the person hosting the site will have a keylogger on the other end to record and reveal all the entered information, including the password right before their eyes.
If you are unsure of a legitimate website, it is always good to research it prior to proceeding further. All webpages are supposed to have a valid certificate which proves that any private information entered by the end user such as a password, social security number, or a credit card number, will be encrypted and safe from any third party attacks. If you ever go to a website where it requires you to sign-in or enter any personal information, always look at the start of the website where it should say "HTTPS" as opposed to "HTTP". HTTPS means that the webpage is secure, however, if there is no certificate, then you may see "Not Secure". Most web browsers will alert you when going to a website without a certificate. Always keep an eye at that icon on the top of the address bar before stumbling upon a suspicious website.