ThreatMetrix detected 45 million attempted attacks against online retailers in Q3 2015
A new cybercrime report released by ThreatMetrix predicts that the 2015 holiday shopping season will attract more cyber-attack attempts than ever before. In the last 90 days alone, ThreatMetrix detected 45 million attempted attacks against online retailers - a 25 percent increase over the previous quarter.
“Generally, this time of year is slower for businesses as they prepare for the holiday shopping season, but this year it yielded record numbers in attempted attacks,” explained Vanita Pandey, senior director, strategy and product marketing at ThreatMetrix. “The majority of the attempts we saw were in the e-commerce space using low-and-slow bots that bypass traditional security defenses. Retailers must stay vigilant when it comes to protecting digital identities.”
With Cyber Monday fast approaching, attacks on e-commerce retailers are expected to increase as cyber criminals look to exploit confidential data such as login and payment details. These findings serve as a warning to businesses as they prepare for an unprecedented volume of mobile and online transactions this holiday shopping season.
ThreatMetrix, which authenticates transactions on behalf of 4,000 customers globally, detected 45 million attempted attacks against online retailers over the past 3 months, marking a 25 percent increase over the previous quarter. The report warns that the holiday season could be marred by a significant jump in hacking efforts.
The report said that Black Friday and Cyber Monday will be “a particular target for online criminals,” estimating that the number of attempted fraudulent transactions will double this year.
"The third quarter yielded record numbers in attack attempts,” said Vanita Pandey, senior director, strategy and product marketing at ThreatMetrix. “The ultimate victims are the consumers whose digital identities are increasingly compromised with each subsequent breach.”
"Cybercriminals don’t sleep when it comes to attacks – the majority of the attempts we saw were in the e-commerce space and retailers must stay on their toes when it comes to protecting digital identities during what is sure to be the largest digital season to date for online and mobile transactions.”
This new report dubbed the coming festive season as "Cybercriminal Christmas", warning that hackers are using multiple data points to gain access to websites, including account creations, payment transactions and account logins.
“There is an ongoing cat and mouse game between cybercriminals and businesses," said ThreatMetrix chief products officer Alisdair Faulkner. "We are living in a dystopian post-breach world where our trusted and established paradigms are fast changing."
According to Faulkner, as more consumers transition to mobile devices to make purchases on the move, they are "leaving digital footprints for cybercriminals to exploit".
“Increased mobile use during holiday shopping means more avenues for cyber-attacks,” warned Pandey. “This report comes just ahead of the 2015 holiday shopping season, which promises to be the biggest digital season. We live in a time when data breaches are an ever-present threat, and businesses must take the utmost care with their customers’ digital identities. If they don’t, cybercriminals can take fragments of these digital identities and piece together an entire persona from the smallest amount of information.”
