Securing Retail Summit

Retailers and those that manage their network infrastructure are among the most frequently targeted victims of cyberattacks. According to a recent survey, 24% of cyberattacks target retailers, with credential phishing, malware, ransomware and DDoS attacks the commonest threat vectors. It’s perhaps no surprise that the industry is so targeted. The prize for the hackers is a treasure trove of easily monetizable data. Retailers store vast quantities of payment and card data as a result of heavily digitalised e-commerce models; they retain vast troves of additional personal data to finetune the personalised marketing and e-commerce portals upon which they depend. Retailers are also easier to hack than some other sectors. They have been forced online and on to mobile not just by COVID but by rapidly changing customer habits. So, they have to maintain constantly updated e-Commerce sites even the simplest of which rely on an ecosystem of applications, browsers and proxies that contain vulnerabilities allowing hackers to compromise all elements of the order and payment process. The recent ‘Natural Fresh skimmer’, for example, shows a fake payment popup, defeating the security of a (PCI compliant) hosted payment form.