AshokKumar

WITH MORE than3,311hubsspreadall over the coun-try, India is fastemerging as a

leading e-commerce marketplaceglobally, says a recent report byeBay, a popular e-commerce hub.An earlier estimate by online re-tailer HomeShop18 pegged theindustryat$9.3billion.

However, the industry is facedwiththechallengeof ensuringcon-sumer confidence in keeping theiridentities and information secure.Some of the common e-commercesecuritythreatsloominglargeoverthe industry include identity theft,data security breaches and phish-ing, which predominantly figureonthelistof consumercomplaints.As the biggest casualty of theemergingriskfactorsisthetrustofthe consumer in digital commerce,itbecomesimperativeforanybusi-ness to take necessary steps toreduce customer concerns aboutshoppingandbankingonline.

The users are advised to accesstheir online accounts from theirown computers and also ensurethattheyhavedifferentusernamesand passwords for different ac-counts, as the probable attackercan use the same credentials to ac-cessanyaccount.

Butthis isonlythebasic precau-tion. While most organisations be-lieve that simple usernames andpasswords no longer provide ade-quate protection against sophisti-catedattacks,atthesametime,theyfeelhandicappedbecauseacompli-cated technical transactionprocess may hurt adoption and us-age. Intelligent authenticationtakes a risk-based approach thatenables strong authentication thatis both effective and unobtrusivefortheenduser.

A few basic guidelines can go along way in making the experienceof online shopping a fruitful exer-cise. One of the most important de-cisions a customer is required totakeduringonlinetransactionistochoosethepaymentgateway.

It is critical that the paymentgateway you choose supports basicfraud detection and that all re-quired authentication measuresare in place. Most frequently, creditcard fraud is carried out by individ-uals, who have access to only creditcard numbers and not the physicalcards. “Two factor authenticationchecks via a one-time password areuseful,”saysSuhasPrakashkumar,director, development, Symantec, asecuritysolutionsfirm.

If the site is not professional inappearance and operation, it maynot be safe. The user should enterthe payment information on apage that contains a padlock (se-

cure lock) at the bottom of thepage. Usually a shoddy looking,badly designed website should beavoided, cautions, Faisal Fa-rooqui, founder, Mouthshut.com,ausergeneratedcompany.

Govind Rammurthy, managingdirector of eScan, a security solu-tion firm, feels securing the com-puter, clicking with care andknowingthemerchantarethethreemost important steps one shouldfollowwhileshoppingonline.

‘Bad’ guys these days operateby planting a keylogger on yoursystem that listens in, surrepti-tiously waiting for you to use yourcredit card or your bank passwordso that they can steal your money.So,evenif you’redealingwithale-gitimate merchant, you’re at riskif your computer is infected. “Amajor precaution is not to click onany links—even if the messagelooks legitimate—but to type inthe merchant’s URL manually,”cautionsRamamurthy.

AccordingtoAjayData,founderof Xgen Plus, advance emailservers give special importance toemailsecurityandlayemphasisonthe awareness of consumers aboutthe real price of the product. “Thesecurity of email is crucial. Whenyou’re about to enter your creditcard details, make sure you’re on a‘secure’ site. The URL should have

an https at the beginning (s for ‘se-curity’)andthereshouldbeasmallgold lock in the lower right cornerof thebrowser.”

It is also significant for the con-sumer to understand the actualcost of the item, including ship-ping, handling, and sales tax asthese factors can have an enor-mous impact on the final price.“Many merchants offer free ship-ping during holidays and thosewho have both online and physicalstores will let you pick up the itemfrom the store for free. In moststates if you do business with amerchant who has a physical pres-ence there, he is required to collectstate sales taxes. Although it’stough to enforce, some states ex-pectyoutoself-reportallof youron-line purchases and pay sales taxeswhenyoufileyourstateincometaxreturn,”Dataexplains.

“Since online shopping is con-stantly evolving, in emerging mar-kets like India, shoppers need to beawareof differenttechniquesusedby merchants to use the web as aninteractive platform to sell theirproducts.Giventhefactthatalmostabout15%of creditcardfraudsareonline, we must be cautious whensharing personal information likecredit card details over the inter-net,” cautions Anand Dixit, execu-tivedirector,PwC.

Therehavebeencaseswhereonetypically notices situations of socalled ‘baiting’ on different web-siteswhereasmallnumberof prod-ucts are available at a discountedprice. These are used as carrots totemptinnewshoppersandoftenfea-ture on the same page as full pricemerchandise. “In these cases, oncewe are drawn in to the websites, weare more likely to open our wallets

forpurchases,”warnsDixit.Various new e-commerce plat-

forms are mushrooming in India,but not every site pays adequateattention to user information se-curity, both financial and other-wise. Given that a lot of these arestart-ups, there is an additionalresponsibility on the sites to in-still trust in the consumer’s mind,who are warming up to the e-com-merceplatform.

“There are enough measures inplacelikeencryptionandSSLcerti-fication that every e-commerce siteshould embrace to provide a safeshoppingexperience.Else,afewbadexperiencesmightactuallycreateamental block in the consumer’smind about Indian e-commercesites,” says Ranjith Boyanapalli,chief executive officer, Buythep-rice.com,ashoppingportal.

Many online shopping servicesdo not guarantee refund in case thegoods are not delivered. “A propersystem for addressing customergrievance like an exclusive cus-tomercarenumbercanbehelpful,”saysAjitChauhan,director,Syner-gy Promotions & Marketing ser-vices, SynergyCoupons.com, ane-commerceportal.

Social shopping is the new thingbut it has risks. One should notshare too many details about per-sonalbuyinghabitsonlineandcer-tainly avoid pushing credit carddetails even to known people be-cause the information can be ac-cessed by others. One shouldalways shop at online sites thathave been around for years. “Avoidvisiting just-launched sites so thatyou are confident of getting servedwell,” cautions K Vaitheeswaran,founder & CEO of Indiaplaza.com,ane-commercewebsite.

Online consumers should al-ways choose a mode of paymentthat makes it easy for one to trackall online transactions through aregular statement. Kunal Bahl, co-founder & CEO, Snapdeal.com, ane-commerce firm, warns againstvisiting sites that don’t offer aneasyreturnandrefundpolicy.

DhruvGupta,CEO,www.gkbop-tical.com,aleadingonlineeyewearstores, adds, “Payment gatewaysare getting more secure as banksare doing 3-d verification to ensurethatyourpaymentsaresafe.”

The new challenge, in onlineshopping, lies in identifying theso-called alluring deals that offerhuge discounts on products. Someof these deals offer products of in-ferior quality from suppliers,which lack credibility, creatingconfusionamongthepotentialcon-sumers about fake and genuineproducts. “Reputation and pedi-gree of an online shopping portalare critical for any shopper to havea happy buying experience,” saysK Senthilnathan, head, straight-line.in,ane-retailplatform.

To enhance online shopping se-curity, credit card companies arenow establishing cardholder iden-

tity authentication services, suchas Verified by Visa, through thecard issuers. It is getting safer toshop with a credit card as leadingbanksareaddingextralayersof se-curity by OTP or pin verification.“Suchserviceswillletthecustomeruse a personal password with theircards, giving them the security toshop online,” says Sundeep Malho-tra,CEOandfounderHomeShop18,ane-commercecompany.

Customersshouldalsoacquaintthemselves with the benefits of us-ingasecurepaymentgateway.Thisensures safety and security of thetransaction to the highest degreeandisasmartoption.“Itisalwaysagood idea to get in touch with thecustomer support team beforemaking a purchase for the firsttime from any website, as this callsensitises the user to the finerpoints and nuances of the transac-tion,” says Ishita Swarup, CEO &co-ounder, 99labels.com, an onlineshoppingplatform.

Third party approval endorse-ments give credibility to websiteswhenitcomestosecurity-relatedas-pects of online shopping, saysAnkurWarikoo,CEO,Crazeal.com,the Indian unit of Groupon, USA.

“Downloadingthelatestversionof yourwebbrowserisanessentialstep consumers must take as thesehave built-in filters than can spotmany fake websites,” says MohitAnand, managing director, Indiansub-continent, Belkin India, a con-nectivitysolutionsfirm.

It isalsoagoodsecuritypracticeto never discard readable electron-ic receipts or email confirmationsfor your online purchases, as thiscould leak valuable data for poten-tialmisuse.

Arindam Bose, MD & chief cus-tomer officer, timtara.com, an e-commerce portal, says, “At thesametime,weshouldnotworryex-cessively about the security aspectof shopping online. It prevents acustomerfromtakingadvantageofattractivedeals.”

Inanycase,whetherit’sonlineoroffline shopping, basics are thesame.Youmustcomparepricesandgather as much information as pos-sible about the product, before-hand, religiously. The advantagewith online shopping is that heapsarewrittenaboutproductsaspartofreviews and ratings. If you wish todivedeep,youcaneasilygothroughit in detail and also check user re-views in order to gain an in-depthknowledgeabouttheproduct.

“Should you find yourself a vic-tim of fraudulent activities, do notfind be embarrassed to act. Fraudsdo happen on an e-commerce plat-form and it’s advisable to make asmuch noise as possible,” saysSachin Singhal, head of e-com-merce, Naaptol.com, a compari-son-based social shopping portal.

The Financial Express

S P O T L I G H TNovember 6, 2011 4

online frauds

IT IS CRITICAL THAT THEPAYMENT GATEWAY YOUCHOOSE SUPPORTSBASIC FRAUD DETECTIONAND THAT ALL REQUIREDAUTHENTICATIONMEASURES ARE IN PLACE

THE NEW CHALLENGE, INONLINE SHOPPING, LIESIN IDENTIFYING THESO-CALLED ALLURINGDEALS THAT OFFERHUGE DISCOUNTS ONPRODUCTS. SOME OFTHESE PRODUCTS AREOF INFERIOR QUALITY,WHICH LACKCREDIBILITY

As Indian e-commerce volume grows bigger by the day, so do security threats

Preventing

THE URL SHOULDHAVE AN HTTPS

AT THE BEGINNING (S FOR‘SECURITY’) AND THERESHOULD BE A SMALLGOLD LOCK IN THELOWER RIGHT CORNER OFTHE BROWSER

Ajay DataOwner, X-Gen Plus

CARDHOLDERIDENTITY

AUTHENTICATIONSERVICES WILL ALLOWTHE CUSTOMER TO USE APASSWORD, GIVING HIMTHE SECURITY TO SHOPONLINE

Sundeep MalhotraCEO, HomeShop18

THE USER SHOULDENTER THE

PAYMENT INFORMATIONON A PAGE THATCONTAINS A PADLOCK ATTHE BOTTOM. A BADLYDESIGNED WEBSITESHOULD BE AVOIDED

Faisal FarooquiFounder, Mouthshut.com

WE SHOULD NOTWORRY

EXCESSIVELY ABOUT THESECURITY ASPECT OFSHOPPING ONLINE. ITPREVENTS ONE FROMTAKING ADVANTAGE OFATTRACTIVE DEALS

Arindam BoseMD, Timtara

REPUTATIONAND PEDIGREE

OF AN ONLINESHOPPING PORTALARE CRITICAL FOR ANYSHOPPER TO HAVE AHAPPY BUYINGEXPERIENCE

K SenthilnathanHead, straightline.in

SHYAM KUMAR