Top Cybersecurity Challenges in Retail and How to overcome

Hackers and their strategies are always changing, but one thing never changes: A cyberattack is likely to target retailers first. The retail industry is regarded as the most targeted in the cybersecurity report. With the sheer volume of digital attacks, retailers should actually move forward with their cybersecurity.

So what cybersecurity threats in retail should businesses keep an eye on? Learn about the top cybersecurity challenges in the retail sector and how to overcome them.

Retail Cybersecurity Statistics

Critical infrastructure, phishing scams, and email takeovers are the three most dangerous retail security challenges, according to the Cyber Security Hub in the Cyber Security Mid-Year Snapshot 2019. Increasing enterprise security is therefore a top priority for many large and small businesses.

Over 53,000 incidents and 2,216 confirmed data breaches were reported by Verizon in 2019. Risk management ought to be a top priority for every business if Verizon is able to fall prey to hackers. In the past year, Verizon has encountered the following cyberattacks:

Credential phishing: 30.43% Malware (besides ransomware): 21.74% Ransomware: 13.04% DDoS attacks: 10.14% BEC/wire transfer fraud: 7.25% Account takeover: 5.80% Malicious or unsafe apps (cloud): 4.35% Malicious or unsafe apps (mobile): 1.45% SQL injection: 4.35% Man-in-the-middle attacks: 1.45%

Why is cybersecurity important for the retail industry?

Cybercriminals have an extremely appealing and low-risk target in retail establishments. They process, store, and protect the data of customers as well as confidential information like financial credentials, usernames, and passwords. These are vulnerable to attack because they can be easily hacked, whether a transaction is made online or in person.

Looking at the data, we can see that hackers attack retail cybersecurity from every angle. Almost 75% of all attacks are carried out either through denial of service, web applications, or payment card skimmers.

The previous year, 2021, saw an increase in the number of digital assault exercises. Disruptions impacted companies such as IT company Kaseya, furniture retailer IKEA, food retailer SPAR, and Funky Pigeon, an online greeting card and gift retailer. In 2020, cyberattacks cost online retailers in the United Kingdom alone £5.9 billion.

Types of Retail Cybersecurity threats

There are many types of retail cybersecurity challenges that retailers will have to face. Here is a list of the most challenging issues in retail cybersecurity.

Ransomware

A ransomware infection prevents a user from accessing their computer system until it is paid. Threat actors can put pressure on the organization by threatening to reveal sensitive information in order to get people to pay the ransom.

Credential phishing

Credential-based attacks are when a hacker steals credentials to gain access to computer networks and steal important business data.This is frequently accomplished by assuming the person's identity in an email, text message, or other form of communication.

Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks

Cybercrimes known as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks involve the perpetrator flooding the targeted server with internet traffic from multiple locations in order to render online services or websites inaccessible.In order to prevent important information from being published or accessed, attackers frequently target a variety of resources, including banks, news sites, and retailers.

Supply chain attacks

Attacks on the supply chain are a type of cyberattack that aims to cause harm to an organization by targeting a third-party supplier or vendor that is important for providing services to the supply chain. In order to gain access to digital resources, hackers typically insert malicious code into software or compromise network components.

Data breach

Another kind of cyberattack that lets confidential information out is a data breach. Protected or sensitive data is removed from a system without the owner's permission during this security breach. A breach of integrity, availability, or confidentiality could occur as a result. A company may also face fines and compensation as a direct result of accidentally disclosing client information.

How to avoid Retail Cybersecurity threats

The retail sector will only become more vulnerable to cyberattacks and data breaches as the number of cybersecurity threats increases. But if you know what to expect, you can equip your business with security measures to stop retail theft.

To assist you in avoiding threats related to retail cybersecurity, we have selected the top six cybersecurity predictions.

Same threats, different approaches Throughout 2021, businesses should continue to pay attention to existing vulnerabilities despite the emergence of new cybersecurity threats. Treat existing vulnerabilities as equally dangerous as newly discovered ones rather than ignoring them.

Risk management The trend of increasing cybersecurity budgets will not slow down, as suggested in the webinar that Cyber Security Hub held on August 13th. As a result, businesses will receive more security awareness training.

Retail businesses begin to prioritize cybersecurity in 2021 by strategically planning for retail theft prevention.

Data security The problem of data security will get worse as more people use the cloud. While the cloud is the e-commerce industry's future, it also comes with unknown bugs and a high risk of errors. Hackers have a greater chance of discovering a way to breach new technology before it can be fixed.

Because of this, retail software data security issues will be one of the top priorities for retailers in the coming years. In order to avoid data breaches in private clouds, it will also encourage businesses to develop additional data security governance programs.

GDPR compliance Retailers are required to begin complying with GDPR as soon as they begin processing customer information. If your retail business deals with the European market, as mentioned, the GDPR applies.

It is necessary to comply with the GDPR in order to avoid legal action, despite the fact that doing so takes time and requires legal assistance.

Application security self-testing Self-diagnosing and self-protection technologies for application security will be implemented by DevOps-focused businesses in the new year to safeguard their applications. They will be able to evaluate new vendors and identify potential retail software cybersecurity threats with this assistance.

Keeping things consistent In light of an increase in side-channel attacks, retailers will need to improve their security by standardizing and concentrating their payment networks.

Standardization necessitates that all merchant websites require the same amount of information and fields to validate card numbers. If all payment systems go through the same security checks, distributed guessing attacks won't work or be scalable.

A network's holistic view of all payment activities can lead to centralized management. Distributed guessing attacks in particular will be able to be detected and avoided by retailers thanks to globally integrated, centralized networks and 3-D Secure mechanisms.

To deal with potential cyberattacks, retail businesses must address existing security issues, keep up with emerging trends, and recruit skilled personnel. They will greatly simplify the lives of hackers if they do not.

Retail cybersecurity best practices

The most effective cybersecurity strategies and risk-based strategies need to be practiced . Protecting your retail businesses from cyberattacks requires the following:

• Stakeholders should be involved in cybersecurity discussions, and you should explain why cybersecurity is so important.

• Effectively educate business leaders regarding cybersecurity threats and the potential difficulty of resolving them in the future.

• Encourage greater investments in resolving issues with retail information security.

• Make an effort to use passwordless authentication.

• Train employees in essential cybersecurity skills.

• CISOs must strategically plan and ensure that they are utilizing new tools and countermeasures as cyberattacks become more sophisticated.

Conclusion

Although it seems daunting to tackle cybersecurity, keeping business data safe is not an impossible journey to embark on. Prevention can often prove to be the best course of action. Taking a proactive approach to cybersecurity and to work out a comprehensive strategy to practice can greatly protect your business from cyberattack.

With many years of experience, MLTech Soft's experts provide you with cybersecurity solutions in order to help your business prevent some bad situations.