Top Reasons Your Ecommerce Site Needs Cyber Insurance

The advent of ecommerce was a watershed moment for both consumers and vendors. Shoppers could peruse products from around the world from the comfort of their homes, and aspiring merchants could open their very own virtual storefronts with decreased barriers to entry. Since its appearance in the mid-1980s, ecommerce has grown, finally overtaking brick-and-mortar stores as consumers make the majority of their purchases online.

But while the ecommerce industry is on the upswing, it has also opened new entry points for hackers and cyber crooks. E-stores are a prime target for hackers because they store a trove of information including customer names, credit card numbers and email addresses.

E-commerce brands need to understand that data is something, which is intrinsic to their success. Even if they are done using the data, they cannot afford to allow it to get into the wrong hands. Most, if not all, ecommerce companies store and process financial records of their customers. To this end, experts suggest that ecommerce companies should go for secure data destruction services, that will ensure that their data is not being used against them. Experts state that ecommerce brands should always look to understand and know more on secure data destruction to improve their cybersecurity protocols.

Below are a few of the common cyberattack launched against ecommerce sites and what you can do to keep your store safe.

Rinse & Repeat Fraudsters: The ‘rinse and repeat’ scam is a favorite of hackers because it’s easy to pull off and difficult to detect. For example, a cybercriminal may buy several stolen credit card numbers from the dark web and use them to purchase products on your website until the card is canceled. The hacker simply ditches that card and moves to the next one, costing your business big bucks!

Solutions?

– Don’t store unencrypted personal or financial data on your servers as this opens your e-store to all sorts of dangers.

– Encourage your shoppers to use stronger passwords.

– Watch for multiple pending transactions being sent to the same address.

– Hire a cybersecurity agency to keep a close eye on your operations for suspicious activity.

Distributed Denial-of-Service: Sometime hackers are more interested in hurting your business than generating money, and one way they can do this is through a DDoS attack. A DDoS attack makes use of thousands of malware-infected computers, which are remotely controlled by the attacker, to flood a site with phony web requests until the service crashes. In other words, legitimate shoppers could be blocked from your ecommerce site by vindictive hackers.

Solutions?

– Employ a DDoS mitigation service to detect, redirect and stymie malicious traffic before it reaches your servers.

Content Scraping: So, we have already covered how hackers can steal your products and traffic, but did you know they can also steal your content? Content scrapping tools are inexpensive and widely available for download. Basically, these tools are used to rip images, product descriptions and prices from your site to mirror elsewhere, thereby fooling shoppers into buying bogus products from scrapped sites. This is also bad news for you since it decreased your site’s visibility online.

Solutions?

– Most business owners are completely unaware of web scrapping, so start by searching for duplicate sites to detect plagiarism or fraud.

– Next, issue a DMCA notice demanding that the site owner relinquish your intellectual property.

Why Cyber Defense Matters

It might surprise you to learn that cybercriminals are actually more inclined to strike a small ecommerce site than a large one, because hackers assume that SMBs lack the robust security features employed by enterprise giants. Thankfully, cyber liability insurance can aide virtual stores of any size.
What is cyber liability insurance? According to CyberPolicy, cyber liability insurance is a policy specifically designed to insulate companies against business losses due to cyberattack.

Similarly, you will want to improve the security of data and financial transfers to your ecommerce website by employing SSL certificates easily available at cheap prices & free, trust badge usually come free with SSL and payment card industry compliance.

Follow these tips to ensure a safe and secure experience for your buyers and your business!