ECommerce: risks faced by Internet sellers

In an interconnected world, where cyber risk 0 does not exist, ecommerce platforms have to take care of all the details to make their customers feel safe. E-commerce has long since established itself as one of the major digital industries, and still has plenty of room to grow.

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Ecommerce is becoming an increasingly attractive sector for cybercriminals. What cyber risks do online retailers face? What are the key security issues that an ecommerce business needs to address?

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Account takeover

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Deception occurs by obtaining data from a user or customer and taking control of their account, changing the mailing address or phone number in order to carry out online fraud.

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Identity theft

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Fraudulent operation by which personal data, passwords, usernames or credit card numbers are stolen.

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Friendly fraud

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The seller receives a purchase and although everything seemed normal, it is returned. The fraudulent customer has declared the purchase as fraudulent in his bank, although in reality he was the one who devised the trap to keep the product at zero cost.

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Reshipping

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A fraudster buys from an online retailer with a stolen card and uses a mule to receive the shipment and avoid detection, forwarding it to the fraudster once it arrives.

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Harmful triangulation

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The customer buys a product through a pirate online store (the customer is unaware that it is an illegal establishment) and the latter, which does not have the item, orders it from a legal e-commerce using a stolen card.

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Phishing

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The fraudster deceives the user by means of a spam mail, inviting him, for example, to carry out a banking operation through a page that is apparently trustworthy.

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Security keys in eCommerce

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The online shopping cart abandonment rate is, on average, close to 80%, exceeding it in sectors such as travel. There are a multitude of reasons for this abandonment, but one of them is the lack of consumer confidence. In order to increase it, generate a sense of security and minimize the associated cyber risks, it is necessary to work on several aspects of the web.

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The usability of the page is the measure of quality of the experience that a user has with the website they visit, so it is vital to provide a smooth and fast navigation, a clear structure of content and, at the same time, that these are of quality with a friendly design.

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Trust seals

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Another key factor is the trust seals that eCommerce obtains through minimum requirements and quality standards. Although the certificates are not mandatory, not having them installed means a series of penalties by search engines.

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Payment methods

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Payment methods are another of the elements that can have the greatest influence on the online buyer's confidence. To reinforce security and improve the user's shopping experience, it is important to offer variety: credit or debit card, cash on delivery, bank transfer, virtual card or bitcoin, payment via Paypal or Google wallet. When an online shopper has different payment alternatives, he feels more comfortable and secure.

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Shopping experience

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The shopping experience itself is an essential factor in gaining the trust of the online shopper. This concept encompasses a multitude of aspects: the options available for the landed product, good customer service management, the value and reputation of the brand and the management of its communication channels, such as social networks.

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And finally, cyber risk insurance, although it will not protect the company from cyber attacks, can help the business remain financially stable, should a security breach event happen to them.

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Damon Baca

Co-founder

Crossborderit (CBIT)

www.crossborderit.com/IOSS