Retailers handle large amounts of personal information, making them a target for cybercriminals. From self-checkout stations to point-of-sale (POS) devices, retailers are a golden mine for hackers to collect and monetize data.
Retailers must take a more proactive approach to cybersecurity. They can protect themselves from cyberattacks by incorporating best practices into employee training and adopting comprehensive vulnerability management and penetration testing programs.
Secure Your Network
Retailers collect valuable data like consumer information and payment card details, making them an attractive target for cyberattacks in retail sector. In addition, many retailers operate multiple outlets, e-commerce sites, and other online purchasing options that expand their attack surface.
In the past, most retail threats focused on information theft and credit card fraud. However, threat actors have evolved, and attacks often focus on disrupting business operations by launching ransomware or denial-of-service attacks. This can affect customer confidence and lead to a loss of revenue.
As such, retail businesses must focus on protecting their network and their sensitive data from cyberattacks. One way to do this is by installing malware protection. These tools scan and analyze your computer or server for malicious files and block them before they can enter the system. They also automatically update themselves, ensuring you always have the latest defenses.
Another way to protect your network is by encrypting your data transmissions. This technology replaces your information’s letters, numbers, and figures with a code only the intended recipient can access. Even if hackers intercept the message, they won’t be able to exploit it without the decryption key. This is an essential step for retailers that rely on point-of-sale (POS) systems, which are notoriously vulnerable to POS malware attacks.
Install Malware Protection
Installing malware protection is essential whether you have a physical storefront or a website. It’s the first step to eliminating retail cybersecurity blind spots and protecting your customers’ data from hackers.
Retailers collect much customer data, including names, addresses, credit card information, security questions and answers, and more. That makes them a prime target for cybercriminals looking to steal this information for financial gain. They can use it for identity theft, stealing payment data, or committing fraud like a smash-and-grab, a return item scam, or even a ransomware attack.
To help keep their customer’s data safe, retailers should only collect the data they need and use it for legitimate purposes. They should also update their systems with patches and install privileged access management to ensure only authorized users can access sensitive information.
It’s also a good idea to educate employees on how to avoid malware attacks, such as clicking suspicious links or attachments. They should be especially wary of email messages that look fishy or come from unfamiliar senders.
Lastly, using ad-blockers that prevent malicious popups from appearing on employee devices is helpful. This can help protect against adware, which is often used by cybercriminals to spy on network activity and steal private information.
It’s also a good idea to have integrated malware protection to scan and stop attacks before they spread.
Keep Your Customers’ Data Safe
Retailers collect and process customer data and handle massive amounts of financial transactions. This makes them a top target for hackers. As retailers adopt new business models and expand into a digital space, their attack surfaces grow significantly. This increases the risk of cyberattacks, whether an assault on payment systems or a supply chain disruption.
In addition to securing sensitive payment information, retailers must protect their customer’s private data. This requires educating employees on how to store personal information securely. This includes not saving sensitive data on individual computers, tablets, and phones and ensuring a secure password is used to log into company networks.
Despite the efforts of retail cybersecurity teams, it’s not uncommon for data breaches to occur. Hackers have become more sophisticated, and the nature of cyberattacks is constantly changing.
The good news is that it’s possible to combat these threats with the right tools and strategies. By implementing the procedures mentioned above, you can keep your customers’ data safe and prevent data breaches from occurring. This will help your business maintain a strong reputation and retain its loyal base of consumers.
Moreover, it will help your customers feel safer shopping at your stores. This will boost their confidence in your brand, making them more likely to make future purchases.
Educate Your Employees
Retailers are embracing technology to offer more ways for consumers to shop. As they integrate new solutions like e-commerce, self-checkout, and curbside pickup lines, they must ensure their cybersecurity is up to par.
Cyberattacks can easily be prevented with employee training and awareness. Retail employees should be taught how to spot malware, ransomware, and other threats, so they can help keep their company safe. They should also be trained to recognize suspicious activity on their devices, such as apps or programs suddenly appearing on their computers or a device acting strangely and slowing down significantly for no apparent reason.
As the threat landscape evolves, retail companies must understand how to combat the most common attacks. Cyberattacks involving credit card information continue to dominate headlines, but retail companies are becoming increasingly targeted because of the massive amounts of data they handle.
From stealing payment information at check-out lanes to hacking into online databases, retailers must be prepared to stop attacks before they occur. After all, the costs of a security breach can be jaw-dropping. A single incident can cost a retailer millions in lost sales, costly IT help, legal assistance, consumer credit repair, and other customer protections. This can put a retailer at risk for financial disaster, and they must take preventative measures to avoid these costly disasters.
My Life, I Guess is a personal finance and career blog by Amanda Kay, an Employment Specialist and older millennial from Ontario, Canada that strives to keep the "person" in personal finance by writing about money, mistakes, and making a living. She focuses on what it’s like being in debt, living paycheck to paycheck, and surviving unemployment while also offering advice and support for others in similar situations - including a FREE library of career & job search resources.