e-Commerce cyber risks and how to prevent them

The moments we live in will be one of the most challenging for the business world. Today, to the operational risks characteristic of any organization, we must add the risk of business continuity that a cyber attack can generate.

In the global context, eCommerce has generated revenues of 431 billion dollars by the year 2021, and it is estimated that by 2025 it will reach the sum of $563 billion. This growth has been associated with a dangerous increase in the number of attacks an eCommerce platform is exposed to, with devastating consequences for companies with an online sales presence.

Roy Miller said, "There are two types of companies, those that have been attacked and those that will attack."  Cyber-attacks are a reality that our platform will not escape, so three questions will always arise:

1. When will the attack be?
2. What type of attack can we expect? 
3. Are we ready?

We cannot have a clear answer to this question, and it is not in our control. However, if we start from the fact that an attack is imminent, the best course of action is an immediate action that allows us to be ready when an attack is imminent.

• What kind of attack can we expect?
  
  According to Hi-Tech Crime Trends, from 2020 to 2021, Ransomware attacks increased by 931%, becoming perhaps the most critical threat that the business world has. The U.S. Government homologated the threat of Ransomware to the challenge of terrorism worldwide.
  
  Ransomware is a threat that usually has a devastating impact on e-commerce platforms. It restricts access to the trading system and conditions the possibility of operation to the payment of a ransom to remove the data encryption.
  
  Let's imagine this scene: One day in the morning, we are alerted that our eCommerce has been compromised and we cannot sell or transact, and our platform, instead of showing our products, displays a message from our cyber attackers showing that our Web site has been hijacked.
  
  When you experience a situation, some impacts are apparent, such as the loss of sales for the time that the page is offline. While other hidden effects are difficult to measure, such as the loss of reputation and trust of our customers, after all, who would want to transact with a company whose security has been compromised?
• Are we ready?

Here are five crucial elements to consider when Securing an eCommerce Platform.

• Create a Security Strategy

The most important thing about security is a straightforward strategy so that security actions are not isolated elements. When the organization does not have a defined plan, the actions taken can be loose pieces like a puzzle that does not end up being completed because it is unknown what the expected result was.

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• Keeping the eCommerce Platform updated

Generally speaking, 90% of software updates correspond to closing security holes, which are the focus of attention of cybercriminals, so it is essential to keep your E-commerce platform wholly updated.

• Always obtain an SSL certificate.

An SSL certificate is a digital certificate that authenticates a web site's identity and enables an encrypted connection. SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, a security protocol that allows an encrypted link between the browser and the web server.

Adding SSL certificates to websites allows us to protect online transactions and safeguard our customers' privacy and information.

• Security backups 

In an eCommerce, it is crucial to perform recurrent backups of all the site's data, using specific tools available either through internal support or specialized companies. The truth is that backups are crucial for business continuity in case of data loss.

Google has promoted the HTTPS protocol (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure) because it is a protocol that improves the security of conventional HTTP since it uses SSL/TLS-based encryption for client-server traffic.

It is vital because, in the event of an attacker intercepting the data, the content will remain inaccessible, reducing the risk of certain man-in-the-middle and eavesdropping attacks. The adoption of this protocol is so relevant for Google that it penalizes pages that have not adopted the protocol.

3. Always use two-factor authentication

A strong password is essential because the more specific the passwords are, the easier they can be breached by a brute force attack. However, more important than the strength of the key is the double authentication factor because this is an additional step to the legend, which is not easy to access by a cyber attacker, generating a crucial further action in terms of information protection.

Conclusion

Today, business continuity is associated with our ability to protect our most precious assets, through which financial transactions flow, sensitive information, and any digital support that could compromise the company.

Security ceased to be a secondary issue to become a central axis of our business continuity strategy. After all, what we want is to be prepared to repel and contain any attempt that may arise, so it is vital to take action to protect our eCommerce platforms.