Online Retail Biggest Hacking Target: 154% Increase And Growing
By: Jim Stickley and Tina Davis
March 30, 2021
Adapting to the everyday limitations during coronavirus has opened a Pandora’s Box for cybercriminals. Navigating life online has arguably made some things easier for many of us…and more difficult for others. One constant during these times includes a massive increase in those who now work, shop, go to school, and more from home. The drastic increase in those who find themselves living life online has a side effect no one wanted but some were able to predict: Historic levels of hacking during the pandemic.
Online retailers, the sellers we’ve come to depend on to maintain a covid-era lifestyle, are the biggest hacking targets of all. Virtually overnight, the coronavirus stay-at-home orders first put in place created a 28% explosion in online retail, and that was just the beginning. The coronavirus-led spike in online retail sales continues to provide massive opportunities for financial benefits to cybercriminals. Not surprising, as they’ve shown many times over, hackers are thrilled to exploit a crisis of any kind to follow and steal the money.
FOLLOWING THE MONEY
- TitanHQ reports cyberattacks targeting online retail in the U.S. are expected to cost $8.1 billion in yearly losses
- Statista reports January of last year, before stay-at-home orders, saw 16 billion monthly online shopping visits globally. By mid-year, that number increased to 22 billion and is still growing. In 2019, online retail sales reached $3.5 trillion worldwide
- Digital Commerce 360 found U.S. consumers spent $861 billion with online merchants last year, up 44% compared to the year before. That’s the highest annual online commerce growth in more than twenty years
- Online retailers saw 62% more Account Takeover (ATO) attempts than any other industry this year. Hackers used leaked credentials to steal accounts from consumers and attack online merchants.
KEEPING IT REAL
With record online purchases, it’s no wonder hackers are following the money, starting with consumers themselves. We’re only human after all, and hackers count on exploiting the weaknesses in our own cybersecurity measures to get in the door. There are cyber-safe online shopping tactics that are easy to follow and consumers can integrate them into their shopping needs.
Before going to a website, especially if it’s new to you, research the seller to make sure they’re legitimate. When typing in the URL, check the spelling and then check it again. Misspelled URL’s can lead to phony, lookalike sites designed to steal your PII (personally identifiable information). Never store payment details on a website – if the site is breached, your payment details are up for grabs as well as your password, email address, and other PII. Also, never shop using public WIFI unless you have a VPN (virtual private network) for secure purchases. Shopping more safely online is possible if we keep these security tips in mind.