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Protect Your Digital Storefront from Automated Bot Attacks this Holiday Shopping Season

As originally published in Digital Commerce 360

Digital Commerce 360 Report

Online traffic and revenue have reached new heights with many retailers seeing daily peaks throughout the year that surpassed previous Cyber Five levels. With those traffic spikes come more automated cyber attacks. Data shows that daily attacks are now at the same level as previous Cyber Five periods—the five days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday. Digital Commerce 360 spoke with Kim DeCarlis, chief marketing officer of PerimeterX, about how retailers should plan for elevated volumes throughout the year and be especially vigilant during the classic holiday period.

How will the 2021 holiday shopping season differ from 2020?

Retailers need to be prepared for large volumes of online shopping, possibly starting earlier than the classic Thanksgiving timing of recent years. Our data from 2020 showed a large spike in account takeover (ATO) attacks in October, suggesting that attackers are testing and tuning their tools and tactics earlier in the year to better prepare for peak attack season. This indicates that retail businesses must have their defenses in place and updated well before the actual Cyber Five shopping season.

In addition, retailers will need to continue to improve their omnichannel presence, supporting buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS) and understand that in-store mobile app usage is increasing, as people check inventory, price and product location while they shop.

Finally, as development teams seek to rapidly add new features to their websites before the holiday code freeze, they will need to ensure proper visibility and control over all third-party scripts so that they don’t become an entryway for digital skimming attacks.

What are some of the latest trends retailers should have on their radars?

A broader array of online merchants will likely face attacks as cybercriminals expand on what they learned last year and go after (Read more...)

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from PerimeterX Blog authored by PerimeterX Blog. Read the original post at: https://www.perimeterx.com/resources/blog/2021/how-to-protect-your-holiday-sales-from-automated-bot-attacks/