5 Top Security Threats in eCommerce (And How to Resolve Them)

If you owned a traditional physical store, you must have hired security guards, installed alarms and surveillance cameras all over your store to detect any security threat, and provided a serene environment for your customers to shop. Isn’t it?

But, what about your online eCommerce store? Because it’s not made of bricks and mortar, do you think it’s safe from ecommerce security threats?

Think again!

2022 is likely to witness massive growth of 18% in the losses created by eCommerce fraud, rising from $17.5 billion last year to more than $20 billion in 2021. This unbelievable rise in numbers has been accounted for in a single year, as stated by Juniper Research. Furthermore, the eCommerce industry reports that in around 32.4% of all attacks. 50% of the small eCommerce retailers affected are grieving over the attacks becoming severe and frequent. Besides, the pieces also reflect that malicious requests account for 29% of the whole traffic accessing a website.

Such attacks hold notable losses in market shares, financials, and market reputation. That said, it won’t be a surprise that nearly 60% of small eCommerce retailers state that their businesses couldn’t endure more than six months of attacks.

The numbers proclaim how you can’t afford to overlook eCommerce security.

If you are an e-entrepreneur, eCommerce security is nothing less than a priority and you need to swiftly adapt to the latest trends.

Let’s explore the most imminent, potential eCommerce security threats you might encounter and your ways out:

1. Credit Card Fraud

The old classic credit card fraud tops the list and continues to afflict online businesses and retailers. Since the inception of online transactions, hackers have predominantly wiped out the trail, costing businesses big numbers.

One more reason for credit card fraud to be prevalent is because it’s untraceable, or at least quite tricky, especially if your site carries out thousands of transactions every day. These are some tell-tale signs to identify credit card fraud:

• A higher-value sale than what’s usually received or expected.
• The shipping address is different from the billing address.
• A successful order preceded by multiple unsuccessful attempts.
• The customer’s IP address doesn’t match with the location of the order’s billing address.

Verifying these methods of transactions is essential for both parties since it can cost your online reputation, and you might have to pay back whoever’s card has been scammed. Thus, staying vigilant is vital against credit card fraud to build your rapport and protect your business.

2. Phishing

Phishing makes room for itself among the top five security threats since hackers have become more tech-savvy in recent years. They masquerade as the authorized eCommerce website and send emails to potential customers to trick them into sending their personal information, primarily transactional data. A scammer will put out the trusted website’s exact copy or any layout with which the customers believe to be the legitimate business asking for their information. This has counted for several customers falling for the scam and becoming their prey. 

Phishing usually inculcates emails that ask customers to take a specific call-to-action and make them mandatory. This requires eCommerce sites to be extra careful with their authenticity and watchful in communicating possible threats to their customers. It is your responsibility to warn them of actions that are not called from the authenticated website, and immediately report any activity that seems off-board. When customers sign up with their requisite information, hackers access related personal data that can further be exploited.

3. Distributed Denial of Services Attack (DDoS Attacks)

DDoS attacks are when the website’s servers receive a massive number of requests from untraceable IP addresses. IoT drives the manipulated devices, and the sophisticated attacks on your website can cause your whole website to go offline. These attacks expose your website to additional attacks like malware infection.

A report by the cyber-security researchers at Netscout says that in recent months, the rise of DDoS attacks has been record-breaking with 5.4 million DDoS attacks during 2021’s first half only, a figure representing an 11% rise compared with the same period last year. 

4. Malware

Malware is software explicitly designed to damage a computer network or gain confidential information by cyber-criminals. Techniques like SQL injection can help cyber-criminals with:

• Control over computers, networks, and your system data.
• Push malicious emails or messages from the website.
• Fake their identity.
• Tamper with databases.
• Erase and block data access.

Since malware practices are also evolving with antivirus techniques, you must keep your foot forward by persistently upgrading your antivirus protocols. Additionally, install firewalls to keep every online activity checked, and store as little sensitive data on your website as possible.

5. Account Acquisition

The online selling and buying of login details is a dynamic industry up-seeding itself in the darker corners of the web. By getting their hands on these login credentials scammers can send out bots to run username and password combinations on multiple eCommerce sites. Once they land successfully, they get free rein to place orders and access all sensitive information like card details for example.

What are your ways out of these eCommerce security threats?

• Use your personal servers: Ensure you host your eCommerce website on a standalone server dedicated to you. Sharing one space with other sites is risky, primarily when either of them gets inflicted with potential cyber-attacks; the malware files can hit the whole server, including yours.
• Maintain your data backups: You cannot afford a lower frequency of keeping your data backups with your entire database and all essential files. If you’re straining out considering yours’s is a large platform, the general rule says-bigger the website, more frequently you should perform backups.
• Keep your security plugins and safety components in check: Security plugins are mandatory to deter cyber-attacks and similar threats. However, the online market for these plugins is enormous, comprising firewalls, two-factor authentications, and much more.
• Keep your eCommerce website updated: Irrespective of your eCommerce platform and CRM, don’t stand down in running frequent updates with official patches and plugins. Any standing bugs or loopholes can raise significant vulnerability for your website and expose it to cyber-predators. Hire software developers who can identify these threats and bridge solutions to stop them before they start.

Do Not Lose Patience. Do the right thing!

The numbers and possible eCommerce security threats might overwhelm you initially. However, being aware of all possible ways your website can fall prey can empower you to stay upbeat in protecting your website and your customers. These necessary steps shall defend against cyber-attacks and avoid any standing damage.

Do the best thing- For your eCommerce website and your customers associated with it. Undeniable precautions are mandatory without overlooking the repercussion, so your customers keep coming back to you for a frictionless shopping experience.