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Context. The rapid growth of online sales across Europe (up to 32 % of retail sales in the U.K. in 2021 and to 14.1% in France) combined with the urgent adoption of telecommuting in 2020, resulted in an increase in security breaches and an upsurge in cyber-attacks. Retail has become a lucrative target for cybercriminals, who have become structured and professional. This sector has a lot of advantages: retailers have large customer databases; they invest in brand image as well as reputation and websites. This offers a digital gateway to scam and remote blackmail specialists. For the past two years, retailers increased spending on cybersecurity solutions. Meanwhile, the retail sector is hit by opportunistic attacks, that are less intentional and targeted than healthcare or aerospace sectors.
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Key figures
– 44% of retailers worldwide were affected by malware in 2020
– For 96% of retailers, the sudden increase in telecommuting has led to an increase in cyberattacks in 2020
– 62% worldwide have been subject to ATO attempts (Account Takeover), i.e., 2.5 times more than all other industries (at 25%)
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OVERVIEW
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Types of attacks
– External and internal. The risk of attack can both come from the outside and from the inside, involving employees at all levels. These include freelancers integrated into the IT development teams, employees who left the company and senior executives. In the development phase of an IT project risk is increased because customer data is not yet anonymized, and can easily be released as part of a malicious attack.