4 steps to more secure e-shopping: Can e-tailers thwart the cybercrime opportunity?

E-commerce platforms, in preparation for the strain that will hit their sites in the lead-up to holiday shopping and promotions, work hard to ensure uptime and performance. Does this focus take away from their preparedness for the cracks in security that almost inevitably arise during these peak traffic periods?

“Overloaded websites and opportunist phishing campaigns are just a few of the problems facing online retailers as they buckle down for the busiest shopping days of the year”

The marked increase in online purchasing boosts the possibility to “hijack” e-commerce transactions, particularly during the holidays’ busiest shopping days. Consumers are expecting to receive promotions, making them likelier to click on malicious phishing links. As consumers let their guard down in search of the best deals, they are a lot more susceptible to respond to fake communications from their favorite retailers or chase fake gift card promotions on suspicious download sites and similar scams. The hubbub of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and the creation of “limited supply”, “while stock lasts” creates a sense of urgency and scarcity that lowers people’s risk sensibilities - with the opportunity cost being their online security.

Why security is key for earning shoppers trust

A recent Harvard Business Review article cited data showing that C-suite executives name better cybersecurity as one of their top tech priorities. Despite this, CMOs and CIOs still are not working closely together to take advantage of the opportunity here:

“...marketers and their employers are missing a potentially powerful brand- and business-building opportunity: leveraging online security measures as a way to build trust with shoppers, which will ultimately lead to increased sales. Online security and customer intimacy go hand in hand.”

WIth this in mind, what can e-commerce sites, as they aggressively put on their armor to stay alive and ahead of the game, do to make their site and customers more secure?

4 protective measures for more secure e-shopping

• Take holistic view of security: With brand and revenue on the line, security is the responsibility of the C-suite, sales and marketing as much as IT. This includes “developing deeper knowledge of your organization’s consumers may be the best way for you to simultaneously secure their online touchpoints while providing a better customer experience”, which you can do with data. Varnish Custom Statistics can help you here with its edge analytics, which can create an illustration of consumer behavior on your site.
• Secure-by-design: As we’ve done in creating Varnish Plus solutions, you should design your site and touchpoints with security in mind from the start: secure-by-design. Security is not an afterthought and thus should be considered each time you develop or build onto your site.
• Secure traffic is encrypted traffic: End-to-end TLS/SSL integration is a no-brainer for helping to shield your organization from unauthorized data or system access.
• Don’t live in denial: Protect yourself against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks or at least mitigate their effects to avoid downtime.

Read our security white paper to learn more about using Varnish Plus to secure your site.

Photo (c) 2007 Anthony Volodkin used under Creative Commons license.