Security for Ecommerce: Biggest Threats and Fixes

According to a report by Juniper Research, the value of financial losses triggered by e-commerce fraud will increase from $17.5 billion to $20 billion by the end of 2021. That’s majorly happening because sellers and brands are moving online without the correct understanding of digital security threats.

Just like a lot of offline stores deploy security staff and digital surveillance to check unscrupulous elements, businesses active online also need to make virtual security provisions to ensure a secure shopping and browsing experience. However, a lot of businesses fail to ensure the same and it directly affects reputation, sales, and growth.

Since e-commerce related cybersecurity threats are growing, Techosquare is here to share top online security threats and their solutions.

Top e-commerce industry threats

Gather understanding about the most prominent cybersecurity threats and empower your e-commerce business in sail the digital turf safely:

Payment fraud

Payment fraud - also known as identity theft - has a 70% share in the total cyber attacks.  According to Merchant Savvy, transactional frauds are expected to increase at a projected cost of $40.60 billion by 2027. There are two primary forms of payment fraud:

Frauds related to stolen credit card information

Frauds related to transactions on insecure platforms

While a lot of online purchasers are familiar with security signals such as HTTPS, these indicators are often spoofed to trick online shoppers.

Fight payment fraud with PCI DSS compliance

Launched back in September 2006, The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard was set up to ensure a secure environment for all the industries that comprise, process, or transmit credit card information.

Any e-commerce business that wants to avoid e-commerce transaction frauds should embrace PCI compliance and collaborate with their development team to deploy the majority of the remedial steps. Below are the 12 requirements for PCI DSS compliance:

  1. Use and maintain a firewall
  2. Proper passwords protection
  3. Protect cardholder data
  4. Encrypt transmitted data
  5. Use and maintain anti-virus
  6. Properly updated software
  7. Restrict Data access
  8. Unique IDS for access
  9. Restrict physical access
  10. Create and maintain access logs
  11. Scan and test for vulnerabilities
  12. Document policies

Don't have an online store yet? Here's an e-commerce features list to set up a super eshop in 2021.

DDoS attack

A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is a cyber-attack that attempts to disrupt the overall traffic of a specific server or a network by submerging the target with a flood of internet traffic.

In simple words, a DDoS attack is an unexpected traffic jam that stops the users from reaching the desired destination. Most of the time, this attack destroys the hosting data allowances, causing costly resource allocation to the business.

More often, a DDoS attack is also coupled with blackmail, demanding a certain amount for disabling the attack.

Fight DDoS attacks with active protection

This cybersecurity attack needs highly aggressive measures to resolve quickly. Techosquare recommends being proactive and adding a DDoS protection layer to your online store. The concept is simple: the incoming traffic is monitored and analyzed to identify and block fraudulent visit requests.

This e-commerce defense system prevents the site from slowing or crashing down under brute force. Below are the benefits of integrating automated DoS security:

  1. Real-time 24/7 detection and blocking
  2. Zero delay and instant mitigation
  3. Accurate and precise removal of all types of DDoS threats

DDoS attacks have become more aggressive in the past few years. Reach our team for Information Technology consultation to prevent DoS attacks. 

Password cracking

More than 30% of people use the same password on multiple accounts. To be honest, we don’t blame them. Ideally, the passwords need to be complex and long but choosing such a password brings the risk of forgetting the same and losing access temporarily.

Password assaults are of two types:

Brute force attacks: Executing a program that implements tens of thousands of passwords with the intent to get the right one.

Informed guessing: The hacker analyzes openly available or stolen user information to guess the password.

Recommended reading: Web app development process that guarantees high performance and security. 

Fighting password cracking with multi-factor authentication

Two strategies need to be implemented to avoid instances of password cracking:

  1. Embrace complex passwords for your most critical websites, especially admin accounts. Use password security applications to store and secure your passwords.
  2. Start multi-factor authentication for critical accounts. This requires the user to complement their password with another form of authentication, mainly code sent via text or code on calls.

Other growing e-commerce security threats

While the above mentioned were the most devastating e-commerce security threats, below are some other threats that e-cbusinesses should be familiar about:

Phishing

Fake “you must take action” emails, either to the company or the user is a data theft tactic used by hackers. Train employees and educate consumers about this phishing trap to make sure that they identify the same when it emerges.

SQL injection

This hacking technique is used to inject malicious code into data-driven applications. This cyber security attack is aimed to access databases via query. Techosquare recommends implementing spam filtering tools to dodge SQL injections.

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Bots

Bots are nowadays performing tasks like customer support without human intervention but hackers are using them to create automated web requests to manipulate or disrupt a website, application, or user end. Captcha deployment is quite effective to check bot attacks.

Malware

Malware is malicious software that infects core processes, steals data, or disrupts app performance. It comes in various variants with an intent to steal sensitive data, execute financial fraud, and support a hostile takeover.

Consult e-commerce security experts

The major e-commerce security threats we discussed above can be devastating not only for business owners but also end-users. That’s why decision-makers must take appropriate measures to address them firmly.

In case you want to integrate additional layers of security into your e-commerce store, get in touch with our team of experienced developers and cybersecurity experts. Our team has helped hundreds of websites and applications securely process millions of dollars and billions worth of user data.

Got any queries to ask? Send them to info@techosquare.com and have them answered by our web development experts.

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