A customer’s trust is always at the core of any successful business. Traditionally, this trust takes in the form of a product that accomplishes its claims, or a service that provides the desired results. Nowadays, a new dimension of trust has surfaced – trust in data privacy and security.
Due to the recent shift into a digital marketplace, keeping the customers’ trust regarding their privacy and security while utilizing your online platform is paramount. Sensitive data such as credit card information, physical address, and even emails are under threat by malicious entities on the web.
As such, maintaining your customers’ trust now entails the ability to secure your online sphere. Fortunately, there are several steps that you can take to do this, one of which is the utilization of professional services such as eCommerce development services.
In this article, we’ll tackle the 6 top eCommerce security threats as well as their corresponding solutions.
6 Top eCommerce Security
1. CREDIT CARD FRAUD
Despite being one of the oldest eCommerce threats in the book, credit card fraud persists today. This is because of how difficult tracing a hacker is from this specific attack. This is perhaps one of the most damaging attacks that your business can endure as it directly targets customers and will thus completely erode their trust in your platform.
As with most cyber-attacks, the first step to combating credit card fraud is early detection. If your business, however, processes hundreds or even thousands of transactions a day, this can be very challenging. Nonetheless, keeping a close eye on the following signs can provide you with a hint on whether or not you are being attacked:
- The customer’s IP address and billing information are not within the same location
- A sale value that deviates by a large amount from the one that you are used to receiving
- One successful order that follows multiple failed ones
Utilizing precautions such as following each transaction with an email of the receipt and the use of address verification (AVS) and card code verification (CCV) for online purchases can also greatly reduce the risks of falling victim to credit card frauds.
2. CUSTOMER JOURNEY HIJACKING
This threat manifests itself in the form of unwanted ads, videos, banners, etc. within your website. Unlike most threats, however, this is particularly hard to guard against as it occurs on the customer’s end and not on your server’s.
Since this attack doesn’t occur on your side but rather on your customers’, your options here are quite limited. The first is educating your customers on installing antivirus and antimalware software, and perhaps make use of a VPN or virtual private network. Another option is by implementing client-side protection that will allow you to see whenever unwanted ads and other parties are present on your website and have them blocked accordingly.
3. BAD BOTS
Bad bots are tools used by hackers to acquire sensitive data such as CVVs, log-in credentials of users, and credit card numbers. These bots often behave like real users and can also be used to directly interfere with your business by slowing down your website, blocking carts, and altering product prices.
Fortunately, there are several ways to guard against this threat. Some of them are as follows: introducing CAPTCHA tests, regularly assessing traffic sources, and utilizing web application firewalls.
4. MISCONFIGURATIONS OF WEB APPLICATIONS
Most eCommerce businesses utilize several web applications to cater to the demands of their customers. Additionally, since mobile commerce generates most online shopping traffic, it has seen tremendous growth recently.
The security aspect of these apps, however, are sometimes overlooked and result in glaring vulnerabilities that lead to several online attacks. To amend this, you must have your Web Application Firewall configured to scout for potential threats and guard against data loss. Steering away from using cookies for particularly sensitive information and encrypting said information can also be beneficial.
5. DDoS
DDoS or Distributed Denial of Service is a type of malicious attack that is conducted to paralyze your system. Hackers make use of multilateral and untraceable or outright fake IP addresses to overwhelm and therefore cripple, your system, thus leaving it unable to function and fend off further attacks.
The first step to preventing a DDoS attack in the first place is to familiarize yourself with your usual traffic profile. Since DDoS attacks are reliant on an overwhelming amount of traffic, spotting when an attack is underway can be relatively easy if you already know what your traffic profile looks like.
If you’re already under attack, the first thing that you should do is to immediately call your ISP or hosting provider. If the attack is particularly severe, the only option left may be to contact a DDoS Mitigation Specialist or any other company that offers such services.
6. ONLINE PAYMENT FRAUD
With the rise of online transactions in recent years, it comes as no surprise that incidents involving CNP (Card Not Present) transactions have also risen proportionately. This specific weakness of eCommerce is one of its most persistent vulnerabilities.
To prevent this from happening, you can protect your business and your customers by maintaining a PCI standard payment system or outsourcing to one that is PCI compliant. Utilizing a Secure Server Layer (SSL) also ensures that all sensitive information within your website is encrypted. Another relatively easy fix is making the use of CVV compulsory for online transactions involving credit cards and debit cards.
