Ahead Of Harbolnas, Microsoft Shares Tips For Online Shopping Safely

JAKARTA National Online Shopping Day (Harbolnas) 12.12 is the most anticipated shopping moment in Indonesia. This enthusiasm can be seen from last year's total expenditure which reached IDR 25.7 trillion.

When a spike in online transactions occurs, cyber threats are also getting higher and need to be watched out for because some individuals are trying to take advantage of the situation. According to Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2024, this threat is in line with phishing and Adversary-in-the-Middle (AiTM).

Data from the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN) also recorded more than 102.95 million anomalies in cyber traffic during the first half of this year. There is a possibility that this traffic anomaly will increase, according to the National Technology Officer of Microsoft Indonesia Panji Wasmana.

"It is very likely that cybercriminals are also preparing to launch attacks with increasingly sophisticated tactics. Generally, they will take advantage of the buyer's rush to complete transactions with large discounts," said Panji.

Panji added that cybercriminals can take advantage of limited stock moments to a short duration of offers so that victims are in a state of urgency. When this happens, they will not pay attention to the authenticity of promotional websites or emails.

"Therefore, our awareness and awareness of cyber threats is an important step to prevent unwanted losses," said Panji.

To avoid cyber crime in the midst of Harbolnas, Microsoft advises all Indonesians not to rush into clicking a link. E-commerce users or those who shop on social media are also not allowed to make transactions without checking.

E-commerce or social media users are also asked to use a password manager to securely store unique passwords and add extra security layers by activating multi-factor authentication (MFA).

Finally, Microsoft provides advice to update regularly before shopping online. By increasing the security of devices and applications on desktop and mobile, cybersecurity risks will decrease. You are also prohibited from making transactions while using public WiFi.