With the holiday season right around the corner, many of you may find yourselves already looking for that perfect gift, and most of us will be looking for that perfect gift online. In fact, with free shipping deals and other online-only coupons, why not shop online?

Just beware while you’re avidly browsing multiple sites at once while your kids are at school that you aren’t purchasing items from an unsecure site and making your identity and credit card number available to malicious users. What do I mean? I mean every time you go to a shopping cart or checkout page, make sure it is a secured connection by a trusted organization using SSL technology.

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. In a nutshell, it basically protects any information that is sent to, from, and during the order process of the online store. Without an SSL, this confidential information is left visible to anyone who knows how to look at it. All online retailers need an SSL and you will find that all credible online stores have one. If you don’t see that the online store you’re shopping in has an SSL, leave immediately.

Identifying that an online retailer is secured with an SSL is pretty simple as long as you know what to look for.

• First, a secure, or encrypted, website address will begin with HTTPS rather than HTTP.
• Second, you should see some sort of icon in the browser such as a padlock indicating that the site is secure. If you click on the padlock, it will generate a security report. Some security reports will contain a confirmed name and address for the website owner while others will only show the website’s address. Be sure it is the exact address you wanted to visit, and make sure that the company information is the company you want to do business with. If the SSL is assigned to John Doe and you think you are buying from Wal-Mart, then you may consider shopping elsewhere, as it may not be who you think it is, or is not the legitimate company you think it is.
• Third, depending on the type of certificate the website has, the address bar may turn green in some browsers.
• Fourth, a Security Alert will appear when you are about to open or leave a security protected page.

If you choose to view the Security Report, you will have the option to also view certificates. Certificates are issued by companies called certification authorities. Windows has a list of the most common certification authorities, and if Windows doesn’t recognize the issuer of a certificate, a warning message will appear. Even if you are familiar with the company whose online store you are shopping at, be skeptical of the security of the site if this warning appears. Another reason that you may get the pop up errors is because the company you are doing business with online has not been a verified legitimate company.

Although the transaction is secure, the company may be a fraud, and again, go somewhere else. Sometimes a company’s website is independent of its stores and may lead you to a third party site or have different privacy terms. For companies you are not familiar with, be sure to look for the Better Business Bureau Online or TRUSTe seals and click them to make sure they link you to the appropriate organization.

When you place an order online or even bank online, each transaction is streamlined across hundreds of switching devices and computers. The information entered can be easily intercepted by someone who knows what they’re looking for and how to read it without an SSL to encrypt this information.

This is why it is crucial for you to take a second to glance at the address bar and confirm you are entering your personal information on a secured site. This seems like a lot to look for when you’re on the mission of holiday shopping, but it’s worth the extra time to ensure your identity or other personal information isn’t stolen.