E-COMMERCE
- shop with merchants you know and trust
- look for and read each site's delivery/return/privacy policies.
- always check for https:// and the padlock icon
- use a credit card, not a debit card
- don't hit the place order button more than once
- never send credit card info via email
- keep a record of transactions

- webservers that are setup to protect sensitive data from being sent
        over the internet is assigned a digital certificate.  
- this makes it possible to keep this info safe from prying eyes.  
- needs cert to encrypt data
- web browsers are prepared to accept certificates from trusted
        authorities (a certificate authority)
- a CA is an organization that certifies the identity of a certificate
        holder, similarly to a public notary that vouches for the legitimacy
        of a notarized signature.  (Thawte, Verisign, Trust-e)