E-commerce business threats are no joke. With e-commerce skyrocketing up 15% in 2020 from the previous year, never has there been a more important time to protect your business from malicious threats. Whether you’re an established player in your field or just starting out, the threats are real and everyone is vulnerable, so it pays to be vigilant.
Let’s look at some of the threats facing e-commerce businesses in today’s digital world.
Online Fraud
Fraud is nothing new, neither is it specific to e-commerce. Brick-and-mortar retailers have long had to deal with fraudulent activities. Fraud relative to e-commerce can come in the form of stealing payment details of customers. Hackers misrepresent their identity to deceive IT solutions. This allows hackers to steal money or other valuable information from your clients.
Spamming
Some criminals send infected links via email or social media. They have also been known to leave these links in comments on a blog or social media post. Clicking on these links will take you to their spam website and you or your customers could end up victims.
To avoid fraud and spam, certain sectors – including legal, health, manufacturing and financial services – choose to send faxes online with Google to avoid the security risks associated with sensitive and valuable information being sent via email. Fax is a safer medium in that it is less vulnerable to cyber attacks.
Skimming
Skimming targets the data of your clientele. Hackers monitor sensitive information such as credit card numbers and personal information as it is entered onto your site. This information is stolen in real time and hackers either use the information immediately or save it for later.
Targeting customers is an insidious way to attack a business, meaning customers will likely lose trust in your platform and move elsewhere. The reputational damage is likely far worse than the monetary loss and will hamper the growth of your business moving forward.
Scraping
Scraping is similar to skimming in that it involves cybercriminals getting a hold of sensitive information that they shouldn’t have access to. With scraping, the data stolen usually involves valuable internal metrics that companies take great pains to hide from their competitors.
Depending on the type of business, the information scraped could be related to:
- Performance
- Strategy
- Pricing
- Market research
Phishing
Phishing isn’t specific to e-commerce, but to anyone who owns and uses a computer. It involves a scammer sending emails to unsuspecting customers, trying to get them to send valuable information, cash, or downloading malware.
Phishing can either be general or targeted. The latter is known as spear phishing, and requires plenty of research for the hackers to pretend to be someone known to the victim.
The Bottom Line
The best way to avoid the threats listed above is to take necessary precautions. This usually involves purchasing a premium cyber security service. Doing so will afford you the best chance of protecting your business and customers from hackers. Not only is sensitive information at risk of being stolen, but people may lose faith in your e-commerce business and move elsewhere if attacks are made public.
As such, you should rethink the security measures present in your current business model. The boom in e-commerce has meant an increase in cybersecurity risks that necessitates extra precautions from providers and consumers alike.