As retail itself has suffered, ecommerce has exploded. The COVID-19 crisis turned society as we know it on its head, impacting every aspect of our daily lives. One of the many things to change was the way we shop, forcing fans of the high street to take the plunge and move to online shopping. After the gradual shrinking of in-store shoppers in recent years, many experts are calling the pandemic the final nail in the coffin of real-world shopping.
Ecommerce usage has skyrocketed with the COVID-19 crisis, and while this has led to a boom in sales for many online brands, it has also created a stark increase in cybersecurity threats. Verizon reports that attacks ecommerce applications are now by far the leading cause of breaches in the retail industry. So what can online businesses do to protect themselves against data-hungry hackers?
Ecommerce is more successful than ever, but also more at risk
Online shopping growth accelerated by five years in 2020 alone, according to data from TechCrunch, and this has created a wealth of opportunity for budding cybercriminals. Among the 287 incidents reported to Verizon, 146 succeeded in accessing data. 75% of these threats were external, and nearly all (96%) involved the theft of either personal or payment data. In fact, 99% of the motives behind these attacks were financial.
In a 2020 survey, 34% of respondents said concerns around cybersecurity were their primary challenge when moving forward with their ecommerce goals. The same number of respondents cited retail cyberattacks and data breaches as their most serious digital threats, yet 85% of plans to improve cybersecurity and transform the digital structure of a business fail before they even get off the ground.
Thankfully, there are steps you can take to boost your organisational security and reduce the risk of a data breach impacting your ecommerce organisation.
Penetration testing
Penetration testing allows you to stay one step ahead of potential attackers by having trusted cybersecurity experts mimic the actions of a hacker within your network and software. This highlights where your cybersecurity weak spots lie, helping you take a proactive rather than reactive approach to data protection.
Avoiding a data breach consumes much less time (and money) than dealing with the fallout after an incident has occurred. Penetration testing is one of the most effective ways to protect your organisation and stay in the know about whether your cybersecurity is up to scratch. With penetration testing, you are given the knowledge you need to take decisive action with regards to your data.
Network segmentation
Good retail cybersecurity involves securing your networks at large, as well as individual hardware. Network segmentation is a big part of this, as it allows you to keep personally identifiable information, POS details and financial data safe. Within each individual segment, you can implement network monitoring tools to detect any signs of movement and data theft. This helps to protect sensitive customer and corporate data, adding an extra layer of security.
Threat intelligence
Don’t take your digital safety for granted. Many online operations bury their heads in the sand and cross their fingers that a data breach won’t happen to them, but in reality, the likelihood of incident occurring is growing at a rapid rate.
Investing in threat intelligence streams can help you stay on top of any digital threats targeting your sector right now. This gives you time to defend against these issues before an incident occurs. One example is the implementation of ongoing security awareness training to keep your team members in the know.
Cybercriminals are increasingly turning their attention to the wealth of valuable data held by ecommerce businesses. The short-term growth we’ve seen in ecommerce may have been financially beneficial for many brands, but it needs to be consolidated effectively and that means taking cybersecurity seriously.
This article was provided by the experts at Security Risk Management. To find out more, visit www.srm-solutions.com.
