As it is known, the interest in e-commerce sites has increased significantly since March 2020. Online shopping increased in direct proportion to the time spent at home, and it resulted in e-commerce sites investing more in technology and especially cyber security. In today's digital world, the road to success is definitely through cybersecurity, because it is no longer possible to gain the trust of customers in any other way.
While cyber security plays an important role in all kinds of commercial activities, it also carries a special importance for the e-commerce sector. In this article, we will discuss possible cyber security threats that e-commerce companies will encounter in 2022 and ways to deal with them.
Top 8 E-Commerce Security Threats to Watch Out For in 2022
Financial Fraud
Financial frauds are not a new threat to online shopping. However, hackers do not lag behind technological developments and are constantly planning new types of cybersecurity attacks and expanding their target audiences. The most popular of these types of cyber security threats are credit card fraud and fake return/refund fraud.
Phishing
Phishing is a cyber-attack where hackers lure potential victims with gift or discount coupons to gain access to sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card numbers. E-commerce companies also have to deal with phishing-type attacks because hackers try to defraud their customers by sending messages and emails that seem to come from the company. In the past, there have been reports of multiple cybersecurity victims being scammed by emails purporting to come from PayPal and Google.
Botnet (Bots)
A botnet (“Robot Network”) is a large group of malware-infected, Internet-connected computers controlled by a single operator. Hackers use these compromised devices to launch large-scale attacks to disrupt services, steal credentials and gain unauthorized access to systems. Botnets offer a bigger hazard than other malware that replicates itself within a single machine or system because they allow a threat actor to do a large number of activities at once.
One of the main reasons why e-commerce companies are exposed to bot attacks may be the attempt of rival companies to compete with prices. Some hackers develop special bots that will peruse e-commerce sites for information on inventory and prices. Such hackers can use data to manipulate prices on websites or sell it to competitors, often to drive down sales. Bots can add multiple items to their cart and keep them in their carts for long periods of time to prevent real customers from purchasing the items. These automated attacks reduce sales and brand value as they cause artificial inventory depletion.
Spamming
Infected links can be sent via email or social media inboxes by some hackers. They can also include these links in their social media or blog posts' comments or messages, as well as contact forms. They will send the receivers to their spam websites if they click on such links. Malware infection spread by email can swiftly escalate into a far more serious issue in 2022. Spamming not only compromises your website's security, but it also slows it down and has a negative impact on its performance.
DoS and DDoS Attacks
A denial-of-service (DoS) attack floods a server with traffic, effectively shutting down a website or resource. A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) form of malware is a DoS attack that floods a targeted resource with several devices.
Due to DDoS cyberattacks, many e-commerce websites have suffered losses as a result of website and overall sales shortages. What occurs is that their servers are bombarded with requests from a large number of untraceable IP addresses, forcing them to fail and rendering the business unavailable to customers.
Spyware
Spyware is the name given to software that monitors the activities of a computer user and transfers all this data it obtains to a third party without the user's knowledge and consent. Spyware's actions include monitoring activity, examining keystrokes, unauthorized access to webcams, data collection (account information, session, financial data) and capturing personal data.
Spyware doesn't always have to be malicious. For example, cookies on sites are also a type of spyware, but permission is obtained from the user for these tracking and data collection. E-commerce sites are also one of the types of websites that take advantage of these cookies.
Adware (Advertising-Supported Software)
Adware is a type of virus that automatically sends ads. Pop-up ads and advertisements displayed by the software that appear to users entering e-commerce sites are also types of Adware. Adware is often bundled with free versions of software and programs. Most of the adware is ad-supported or written and used to generate revenue. While some adware is only designed to display advertisements, it is common for adware to be combined with spyware capable of tracking user activities and collecting data. Adware/spyware packages are significantly more harmful than adware alone, due to the additional capabilities of spyware.
Man In The Middle (MITM)
One of the oldest types of cyber-attacks, Man In The Middle (MITM for short), is when hackers are secretly involved in communication between two parties without the parties' knowledge and consent. Different e-commerce companies such as Walgreens Pharmacy Store have been exposed to MITM attacks in the past and lost important personal data of their customers to hacks. It is predicted that such cyber attacks will continue in 2022. The ever-increasing business mobility, use of open Wi-Fi, and the increase in inadequate IoT devices are among the reasons why hackers increase MITM attacks. The frequent use of open Wi-Fi networks makes it easier for hackers to access users' data. Due to the rapid increase in the use of Internet of Things (IoT) devices today, these devices without proper security requirements are vulnerable to MITM attacks.
After examining the possible cyber security threats that e-commerce companies will face in 2022, let us present the ways to deal with them. First of all, you can browse our Technology Courses for E-Commerce Sector page and the Cyber Security Training Catalogue.
The best way to fight back against cyber security attacks starts with a good training. If you are working in an e-commerce company and want to prepare your company and your employees to fight against cyber security threats, contact us now!