Cybersecurity for Retail
The retail industry consumes a large quantity of valuable, private consumer data, making businesses within this sector a prime target for cyberattacks. No matter the size, brick and mortar or an online retailer, businesses are easily susceptible to hacks and data breaches from cyber criminals looking tosteal precious consumer information.
Here are some stats to consider:
72% of retailers have experienced cyberattacks and 61% experiencing one last year (Ponemon Institute)
50% of retailers have no response plan for a data breach, 11% higher than average across all industries (Ponemon Institute)
The retail industry is impacted by 73% of point of sale
(POS) breaches (IBM)
Average loss of customer or employee data in a retail breach is 7,772 records (Ponemon Institute)
More than 90% of retailers are out of compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, or PCI DSS (SecurityScorecard)
Fines vary from $5,000 to $100,000 per month for failing to meet Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards, or PCI DSS. (PCI Compliance Guide)
Solutions to Address Common Challenges and Concerns
Endpoint Security with a strong threat hunting tool and real-time change management configuration keeps you informed of any backdoor hacking attempts online
Anti-Malware/Anti-Virus/EDR should be packaged into all POS systems; if using a mobile-based POS app, ensure network connectivity and all communication channels are encrypted
Adversarial Testing (i.e. penetration testing, web application testing, etc.) and other system assessments help uncover vulnerabilities or weaknesses within systems – very important since you are most likely using open-source and third-party APIs and software for an e-commerce site or mobile payment applications
Comprehensive Vulnerability Assessment program evaluates whether an IT system is exposed to any known
vulnerabilities, assigns severity levels to identified vulnerabilities, and recommends remediation or mitigation
steps, where required
Encryption Key Management protects customer and financial data in the cloud, maintaining compliance with
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS)
Firewalls/IPS/IDS around customer data ensures proper handling of payment card information in accordance with PCI DSS and performs the latest software patches and upgrades in a timely manner
Two-Factor Authentication provides an additional layer of validation, reducing a threat actor’s attack surface and ability to gain unauthorized access to sensitive and POS data
