Online shopping is a wonderful convenience, from ordering gifts for grandkids, to getting groceries or essentials delivered straight to your door. But shopping online also comes with risks. Cyber criminals often use online stores to try to steal personal or financial information. That’s why it’s wise to take a few simple precautions before you click “Buy”.

Every year, late November brings two big shopping events that started in the United States: Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Fake online stores, unbelievable discounts, and dodgy payment links often appear during this period, and all are designed to trick you into handing over money or personal information. The good news? A few simple checks can help you spot a scam before it spots you.

If you’ve seen the headlines, you’ll know Qantas is in the middle of an ugly cyber incident. A criminal collective (reports say it’s a mash-up of well-known groups) claims to have stolen customer data and is now demanding a ransom. They’ve threatened to leak data on the dark web if negotiations don’t happen by the deadline. Qantas has taken legal action to try to stop misuse of the data and says its core systems remain secure; the breach traces back to a third-party contact-c

Even the biggest names in technology can slip up, and this week’s headlines prove it. Oracle released an emergency fix after hackers found a way to exploit one of its business systems. Researchers uncovered a new cloud vulnerability that could, in rare cases, allow data to leak between shared servers. And Microsoft quietly announced a change to Outlook, disabling a type of image file that cybercriminals were using in phishing scams. It’s a busy week in cybersecurity -