Security

Your security and confidentiality with us, and a bit of information on credit card fraud and security.

Confidentiality

All personal details given by yourself including your e-mail address will not be made available to any third party whatsoever.

Credit card security

We asure you that we have taken all possible precautions to ensure that your credit card details are absolutely secure. We work off a secure server behind a secure firewall. The only organization having access to your details is the financial institution processing the transaction. However, if you would prefer to give us your card details over the phone, you are welcome to do so by contacting us at: +27 12 6536992

A note on credit card security from our E-Commerce hosts

Recent media reports on computer crime, or hacking, have been cause for concern to people who use or intend to use the Internet for infotainment and shopping. The following should serve to provide you with some reassurance that it is definitely safe to shop online as long as you and online merchants have taken certain precautions as outlined within this section.

Before we continue let us answer the question on everyone’s mind: How do hackers claim to be able to access credit card numbers?

Any unscrupulous individual can obtain your credit card via traditional means if you are not careful; criminals often pose as a representative of a reputable company over the phone and obtain your credit card details from you directly or simply by rummaging through rubbish bins for credit card receipts. It’s as simple as that.

Hackers, however, obtain credit card details by hacking or "cracking" into sites of companies that have not taken basic security precautions in storing your credit card information. The reported cases of hackers accessing credit card details have been from sites keeping credit card details in an unsecured database accessible via the Internet, often with the credit card information stored as plain text instead of encrypted.

However, more and more companies are becoming aware of the need for tight security and are creating highly secure transaction environments.

At M-Web’s Shopzone, such details are kept off of the Internet, on a secured database behind two firewalls. The data itself is even encrypted so that given the highly unlikely event that a hacker would be able to somehow access this database, the data would be useless to him as it would all be scrambled in a way that only our e-commerce system, SafeShop, and the banks can interpret.

As far as security of your data during transmission via the Internet is concerned, both Visa and MasterCard confirm there has been no instance of encrypted data being intercepted on the Internet, successfully decrypted and used to commit fraud.

Also remember, should an unauthorised charge be made to your Visa or MasterCard credit card, you are not liable for this charge. Please consult your bank for more details on Visa and MasterCard’s policies on fraudulent transactions.

How do I know it's safe to submit my payment details?
First of all, know who you are doing business with. There are unscrupulous merchants on the Internet, just as there are in the traditional world.

Secondly, ensure that you are using a secure SSL encrypted connection to the Internet. The following is one of the ways of doing so:

• "right-click" on the shopping basket or order form in which you are submitting your payment details;
• you should see a small Windows box appear which includes "Properties;"
• click on "Properties" and make sure that the "Address" begins with "https://" instead of "http://" The extra "s" means that you are using a secure connection;
• also make sure that the address you see is that of a service provider or business that you trust.

SSL encryption scrambles your credit card details during transmission over the Internet and prevents it from being read by "hackers." There has not been one single report of hackers intercepting encrypted data, decrypting it and using it to commit credit card fraud.

The following points demonstrate the measures taken at M-Web’s Shopzone to ensure your security at all times above and beyond the already secure standard SSL encryption:

• All merchants trading in M-Web's Shopzone are approved by M-Web and are businesses that you can trust.
• M-Web Shopzone’s "SafeShop" stores:
• 1. have been approved by the banks before entering into merchant agreements with these merchants;
• 2. never receive your credit card details. Your details are sent to the bank by M-Web for authorisation. The merchant only receives authorisation from the bank and not your credit card details.
• Security is also ensured on sites bearing VeriSign certificates - regardless of whether it is a SafeShop store. When you click on the VeriSign logo at any site, you should be linked to a page displaying a certificate as proof of ID and validity. This certificate is only valid if you right click on the certificate and see that the "Address" is https://digitalid.verisign.com

Plus, as already stated, all credit card details are kept encrypted in a secured database, behind two firewalls, off of the Internet. Neither M-Web nor the merchant are able to read the credit card details due to the encryption.

Hacking is electronic sabotage and cybercrime a violation of consumer rights by criminal individuals. The technology industry will not tolerate hackers or those who attempt/claim to hack and, in the interests of our customers and organisation, will pursue hackers to the fullest extent of the law.