Cyber Monday is predicted to remain the biggest online shopping event of the year for the foreseeable future.
Sales were expected to climb to $16.55 billion in the U.S. and $22.26 billion in the U.K. respectively, said e-commerce analyst John Didion, citing data from Commerce Department data. Specially now that consumers can find a lot more coupon codes to use during Cyber Monday on websites like Raise.
“The Cyber Monday sales are the highest that we have ever seen since we began tracking this,” Didion, a managing director at e-commerce and technology firm Compete Intelligence, said in an e-mailed statement.
How much people are expected to spend this Cyber Monday
The U.S. total is expected to be $1.55 billion more than Cyber Monday 2014, which was set in 2014 and had sales of $16.17 billion for retailers, according to e-commerce website The NPD Group.
There are multiple Cyber Monday events. The U.K. takes place the Friday before Thanksgiving and features discounts up to 60 percent.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the number of employees who will work on Cyber Monday
While the event is expected to do well for retailers, and consumers in general, there have been some concerns about cyberattacks in the recent months.
With a little bit of digging, you can find plenty of ways to avoid malware on your computer or smartphone during Cyber Monday, whether you are in the US, Canada or other countries that will be participating.
Here’s what you need to know.
How to Avoid Malware During Cyber Monday
While you are obviously going to need a computer to surf the web, you are also going to need it for something else. Luckily, there are a few ways to avoid malware during Cyber Monday.
The most important thing to do is to stay up-to-date with all of your software and settings. Software vulnerabilities have been the leading cause of attacks on US systems for quite some time, and hackers use them to infiltrate your system and steal sensitive data. This includes most Microsoft software, but not all. To stay safe, you want to make sure that every application you use is protected, and that you install the latest updates before you surf the web. If you are in the US, you may want to purchase a Cyber Security Activation Certificate. These will allow you to log into websites that require the certificate, such as bank websites, so that you can see the full details of a site before you click any links.