Online shopping has become a convenient and safe option for getting everything from school supplies to a new car without ever having to leave your house. The global eCommerce market for 2022 is expected to reach a total of $5.55 trillion and is estimated to continue growing.

As a retail owner, what potential security threats in eCommerce are out there for your business, and how can you prevent them?

Biggest Security Threats in eCommerce for Stores

Several malicious forms of cyberattacks happen to online businesses every day. The most common are:

• Phishing: Cybercriminals use fake copies of your legitimate website pages to trick customers into giving them sensitive personal information.
• Malware and ransomware: By infecting your computer system, a hacker can gain access to your internal system, which allows them to retrieve secure login information and customer data and cause damage to your database.
• SQL injection: An attack on your query submission forms to access sensitive data stored in your backend database. They corrupt the database, gather the data they want, and then wipe the trail clean.
• Cross-site scripting (XSS): A code is planted on your online storefront, it runs in the user’s browser and can then access their usernames, passwords, and other sensitive information.
• E-skimming: By targeting the checkout process on your website, a cybercriminal can steal your customers’ personal information and payment details.

What to Do to Protect Your Site

There are several ways you can protect your business from security threats in ecommerce that can reduce your risk of having a costly cyberattack that could ruin your reputation and diminish future sales.

Maintain Security

Maintaining a high level of security throughout your system can help you to stay up to date in the war against these malicious security attacks. Reduce your risk by implementing these best practices into your security strategy:

• Regularly back up your data to ensure no loss of information.
• Install SSL certificates to secure data transfer between servers and user devices.
• Secure your network and data by installing anti-malware and anti-virus programs and set up firewalls to regulate traffic to and from your site.
• Set up multi-factor authentication to better secure all usernames and passwords.
• Use passphrases to create more complex and difficult to hack passwords.
• Install a cyber-monitoring system to better detect threats and enable faster response times to attacks.
• Create security policies for all employees and management to follow for the overall security of your system.
• Provide cybersecurity training for all employees.
• Make your customers’ privacy protection a priority by regularly updating and repairing any potential vulnerabilities.

Invest in the Right Cyber Liability Insurance

Cyber insurance can protect you and your customers in the event of a data breach. Businesses that store sensitive data like credit card information should invest in a cyber liability policy as cyber coverage is typically not covered under your general policy. These insurance plans typically cover losses incurred by data breaches, phishing schemes, cyberattacks, ransomware, malware, and denial of service (DOS) attacks.

Types of Cyber Insurance:

1. First-party cyber liability coverage will provide you with financial protection if, for example, a customer’s data was exposed due to a cyberattack. It could be added to your general liability insurance or business owner’s policy (BOP).
2. Third-party coverage could also benefit you if you are responsible for a separate business’s cybersecurity and they are hacked under the security policy you recommended.

Secure Your Ecommerce Site

By properly securing your website, you can help minimize your risk to security threats in eCommerce. Here are some quick ways you can improve the security of your ecommerce site now:

• Implement strong and unique passwords, and make sure your customers do as well
• Ensure all connected devices are cyber secure with anti-virus software, firewalls, endpoint security, or another appropriate method of protecting against threats.
• Protect against phishing attacks by offering security awareness training to employees
• Use 2-step verification, 2-factor authentication, or multi-factor authentication
• Only store the customer data that you need
• Consider hiring a managed security provider that offers a team of security experts that will protect your store 24/7 at a fraction of the cost of building your security team in-house.
• Use HTTPS, which sends a positive trust signal to your online shoppers and is preferred by Google over HTTP
• Regularly review all plugins and third-party integrations

With cyber threats evolving daily, developing a robust eCommerce security plan, complete with cyber insurance, is vitally important to the success of your business. Without one, you risk leaking sensitive data, loss of profits, and reputation. IT security is an ongoing need that requires a clear understanding of how users, customers, and applications access data and how devices are configured. Start simple and reach our to our security experts.