This year, Cyber Monday falls on December 1st, and it's the unofficial start to the online holiday shopping season.

But while you're busy shopping, a hacker could be busy stealing your identity.

"Hackers are going to go out and they are going to be looking for people who are cutting corners and potentially making some mistakes," says Todd Feinman, chief executive officer of Identity Finder.

Feinman says taking some simple steps can help protect your identity and your money. First, Feinman says to make sure you always click "yes" to installing all the latest security updates.

"These updates aren't just for your operating systems. These updates are also for your web browser and also for the different types of multimedia applications that you use," Feinman says. "There are things called web application exploits, and these can attack your computer, steal your identity, and install Trojan horses or key loggers that record your key strokes."

If you're hesitant to use your regular credit card to make an online purchase from an unfamiliar website, you could contact your bank for a temporary credit card, which expires after just one use.

As for a PayPal account, Feinman says to be sure you create complex passwords. Use a mix case of letters, numbers and symbols.

Feiman also says shop online from your personal, not a public, computer, and be sure you see the padlock symbol on your toolbar before making any transactions.

"The padlock tells you that everything your transmitting is secure, which means if someone is listening in on the network, they are not going to be seeing what you are typing because everything is encrypted; everything is scrambled up so no one else can see it," he says.

If you receive email advertisements from familiar companies, do not click on the links to take advantage of the deals; you could be taken to a website purporting to be another. Feiman says you should type in the website of interest instead.

Finally, check your credit before and after your holiday shopping. By law, you can obtain a free credit report once a year from each of the three major credit reporting agencies by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com.

For more tips on preventing identity theft online, go to IdentityFinder.com/Security_Center.