Trading online is one of the most popular side hustles among the masses. Individuals of all ages and ethnicities actively participate in trading in an attempt to make as much money as they can. Online trading platforms or brokers are the medium most people acquire when they initiate trading. People, ranging from retail investors to institutional traders, all turn towards online brokers to conduct their trades.

Trading online today holds a series of benefits, especially when you choose dynamic markets like forex. Trade-supporting platforms offer non-latent trade execution and negligible slippage, keeping lost opportunities to a minimum.

However, on the other hand, you can suffer considerable damage at the hands of malicious and opportunistic entities through their fraudulent schemes. In such a scenario, you need to be as vigilant and thoughtful as possible. You can even review advice from a Percival Knight binary options expert on how to avoid falling for online trading sites’ scams. Nevertheless, if you don’t have access to a trading professional, we’ve still got you covered. Following is a list of initiations you can make to keep yourself safe from online hackers and fraudulent trading sites.

Set Up an Antivirus Software

Before you start trading online, you need to ensure that the device you are using to conduct your trades is protected by up-to-date and highly trusted antivirus software.

Antivirus software helps to protect your device by constantly running scans over your files and recent downloads for any sort of malware. They make sure that the websites you visit have up-to-date security certificates so that your device does not face the threat of any unwanted viruses. A few antivirus software companies also provide safe payment browsers to their users for an added layer of encryption for third-party gateways.

Set a Strong Password

This might seem the most obvious and mundane task whenever you form a portfolio online and feel unnecessary to cover. However, each year, the leading security application provider, SplashData, releases a list of the most common passwords. The list might leave you stunned, as some of the most well-thought combinations can also end up being easily hacked. Hence, you need to ensure that your locks are strong.

Online trading platforms might not allow you to set weak passwords, however, some might have weaker-than-ideal password policies, putting you in the danger zone. An innovative way of avoiding the hassle of forming a secure and powerful password while having a combination you will remember is to make use of a password wallet.

A password wallet that belongs to a reputable and secure antivirus or cybersecurity company can automatically generate a password strong enough that hackers cannot easily trespass. These wallets can also store the password in an encrypted state. Oftentimes, we allow our trading platform to remember our passwords for us. This might land us in trouble, as it is not definite that the password saved would be in an encrypted format. To avoid this predicament, you can opt for a wallet to store your passwords in an alternate encrypted storage option.

Beware of Phishers

Once you have ensured that the device you are using for trading is protected, you can now move on to securing the connection with the website. Phishing is one of the most common tactics among hackers.

Phishing itself is a lot like fishing, the only difference is that here the prey is an unsuspecting investor, and the bait acquired is mostly a website or an email ID that looks, reads, and operates like an authentic one. Once you receive such an email/website login and enter your credentials, you have very conveniently handed your login information to the predators.

Where the fish cannot avoid the bait in fishing, an investor however can. Whenever you open a link, make sure to pay close attention. Phishing sites often make modifications to their URL links from the original ones.

Emails, too, when sent by phishing sites, have slightly amended email addresses, and mostly the language with which the email is written is informal and incorrect. Another way in which you can prevent getting phished is by manually typing down a platform’s URL rather than just directly clicking on the link provided.

Encryption

Once you have followed all the above-listed steps, you are now qualified to safely log on to the trading site. However, if you are accessing the online trading portal through a browser, there are a few necessary precautions you can keep in mind.

Firstly, ensure that the site you are visiting is not HTTP, but HTTPS enabled. HTTPS here stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure. HTTPS serves the purpose of both authentication and data encryption. This will help you thoroughly avoid unsuspected attacks from hackers where they may attempt to intercept unencrypted communication.

The “secure” part of the HTTPS abbreviation comes from SSL (Secured Socket Layer) certification. The fact that it does ensure that your data is well handled behind a total of 128-bit layers of encryption is also, in fact, the highest required by most regulators. To make sure this layer of security is provided, double-check that the padlock icon beside your URL is whole.

Choose a Regulated Platform for Safe Trading

Lastly, you need to make sure that the platform you choose to trade on is certified by an appropriate regulator. The recommended regulator is mostly the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). When you choose a site with a regulator’s verified certification, you ensure that the site you are dealing with is legitimate and would be most definitely subject to oversight and standards of best practice. However, the unregulated sites leave good chances that they will act in bad faith.

Conclusion

Online traders often become subject to great scams. For you to actively earn from trading and thoroughly avoid the flip side of it, it is ideal that you follow the steps listed above, including setting up a trusted antivirus on your device, making use of strong passwords, and taking measures to avoid getting phished. Further, you can ensure that the site uses active encryption, and lastly, be mindful when you choose the platform you trade with.