Cybersecurity in eCommerce: What You Need to Know About Securing Your Online Store

According to a recent survey by Riskified, in the United States, more than three-quarters (82%) of retailers said that they have seen an increase in fraud attempts since the pandemic began.

Since cyber-attacks are broad and varied, it would be impossible to cover them all here. But let’s have a look at some of the most common security threats that your eCommerce site can face –

• Phishing attacks – It is a type of social engineering where cyber criminals track victims (through email, text, or phone) and deceive them into sharing private information like passwords, account numbers, social security numbers, login details, bank card details, etc.
  
  The goal of phishing is to access the customers’ personal data. Phishing attackers use fake mass mailing through legitimate-looking companies that are at times indistinguishable from real ones (the site may look identical but the URL may differ slightly from the original one).
  
  To succeed, phishing capitalizes on emotionally manipulating users.
  
  
• Malware – It’s a type of malicious software that tries to infect a computer. Cybercriminals insert malware on the victims’ devices for various purposes like obtaining personal data, stealing passwords, blocking the device owner, or getting financial data. Malware can also redirect the website to another page to mislead the customers.
  
  Malware often affects customer devices if they click on untrustworthy links or install an unknown software.
  
  
• Ransomware – It is one of the biggest and most common cyber disasters. Ransomware is a type of malware where if a device or network is infected, the user may get locked out of their own system, losing access to important data.
  
  To get access again, users need a key that can only be provided by the hacker. So, until a ransom is paid, the user is blackmailed by the hacker. This can lead to significant downtime that may be a devastating blow to your business.
  
  Ransomware can be injected into your device or network through phishing emails, pop-ups, or fake websites.
  
  
• SQL injection – This is a form of attack that’s experienced by eCommerce businesses that store their data in an SQL database. Cybercriminals manipulate improperly validated data through a malicious query injected in a packaged payload. This allows hackers to access all the data and even make changes if they want.
  
  
• Cross-site scripting (XSS) – It involves inserting a piece of malicious code into a webpage. However, unlike other kinds of cyber threats, this doesn’t impact the site itself but the shoppers/users who visit that particular page, exposing them to malware, phishing, and more.
  
  
• E-skimming – In this kind of cyber attack, the hackers get access to your customers’ credit card info by accessing the payment page of your website.
  
  They insert a skimming code in your eCommerce site, especially on pages that process payments. Once hackers have complete access, they can view all the information being entered on the payments page in real-time. This helps them steal user card data and other confidential information.
  
  
• Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks – It involves sending a large number of requests simultaneously from hundreds or thousands of compromised IPs, to take down your web page.
  
  Since your online store would then be flooded with massive traffic, it will prevent genuine customers from completing a purchase.
  
  DDoS can disable your online store for several hours or even days. This can be especially problematic during the peak sale season as it can cause a huge loss of income.
  
  
• Spoofing – It is a type of cyber attack where the hackers build a duplicate page that mimics your online store. The attackers can then view the data being entered on this page thereby stealing confidential user data like credit card details, contact details, personal information, etc. It’s also called a man-in-the-middle attack.