The e-commerce industry is growing at a rapid speed. This year, the predicted revenue is approximately $5 trillion. And with this success, also comes the risks associated with cyber-security attacks. Unfortunately, these attacks are becoming more sophisticated and difficult to detect. Online businesses are also using the latest innovation in technology. As such, managing the security risks associated with the latest technology poses another challenge for business owners. What are these threats that every e-commerce business owner should know? What is the best way to avoid these threats?
1. Credit card fraud
Fraudulent credit card transactions are the most common form of e-commerce attack. The problem here is that it takes time to detect a problem, especially for a small online business without the necessary tools and resources. For effective ecommerce fraud prevention, you’ll need a tool that will detect unusual activities. Some of the identifiers of a suspicious card payment are:
- A different shipping address used than the billing address.
- A higher amount than usual orders
- Multiple unsuccessful attempts followed by a successful big payment
- Suspicious IP address used to make the payment
Big companies already have advanced tools used to detect these activities. Oftentimes, transactions are blocked before they go through. However, the same may not be the case if you run a small business. As such, you’ll need to exercise extra vigilance to protect your customers and your business.
2. Electronic skimming
Electronic skimming is a method where hackers steal credit card details and other personal information. Hackers use misleading links and portals to trick customers into entering their information. There are many ways a hacker can do this. Phishing emails for example still victimizes many people to this day. Of course, there are also more advanced attempts where the victim can barely recognize that the site or link is not legitimate.
For e-commerce business owners, it’s critical to ensure that your website is encrypted. The payment page, for example, should be fortified against these types of attacks. You need to secure your customer’s information as they complete a transaction on your website.
3. DDoS attack
This type of cyber attack involves flooding a website server with requests coming from undetectable IP addresses. Hackers manipulate IoT devices which can cause a website to crash and go offline. When the site is offline, it becomes more vulnerable to attacks, such as malware.
These attacks become more frequent during peak seasons. For example, Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales are times when e-commerce sites are likely at risk of DDoS attacks. Seasonal buying during holidays where sites have more customers are also the most common times for attacks to occur.
Final thoughts
Preventing these attacks needs understanding of how and when they occur. Identifying the vulnerabilities within your business is also critical so that you can employ the necessary prevention methods and tools. Every e-commerce business needs to remain diligent against these attacks. If you want to protect your interest, as well as that of your customers, you need to make cyber security a priority. No online business today is safe, and being complacent to threats is the one thing you need to avoid.
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