eCommerce websites are a goldmine for cyber attackers because they process personal and financial data to complete online transactions. It’s also common for these websites to connect to other personal and financial accounts to make transactions more seamless for customers. This convenience comes with a price, however, in the form of a higher risk of ransomware attacks.
Ransomware is a type of malware used to victimize organizations or individuals, denying their access to sensitive personal and financial information using encryption. This information is then “held for ransom,” with the cyber attacker demanding money before providing a decryption key.
Ransomware is dangerous because it’s designed to spread across networks and can paralyze entire company systems if not addressed immediately. It’s a growing threat that adds to the $600,000 companies spend on average every year to address successful cybersecurity incidents.
Focusing on eCommerce Security
There are several ways you can protect your business from fraud, but cyberattackers have become more sophisticated through the years, and cyberattacks, are more often than before. eCommerce businesses have a heavier responsibility when it comes to data security because they’re also protecting customer data, and consequently, their trust. This is why online businesses are required to comply with security standards according to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
The PCI DSS or PCI, as it is commonly referred to, is an industry standard that ensures the security of credit and payment card information that’s transmitted and stored online. The ISO, on the other hand, is a more common body that sets international standards that help guide businesses in ensuring that their products and production processes are up to set standards and fit their designated purpose. The ISO/IEC 27001:2013 is a specific ISO standard that specifically addresses data security, and is certified for this signifies that a business meets the highest standards of data security and management.
The Unwanted Spread of Ransomware
Cybersecurity threats come in many forms and can attack several vulnerabilities in your business systems all at once, but ransomware is one of the most common cyberattacks due to the accessibility of malware kits that cybercriminals can use to create and test malware samples as needed. Downtime is very expensive for businesses, regardless of duration—and this is what cyber attackers and “data kidnappers” rely on.
Ransomware attacks today are also able to counter preventive security measures due to the availability of new techniques like encrypting the entire disk system instead of specific files within it. The emergence of good generic interpreters like Ransom32, which uses Node.js together with a JavaScript payload, also helps cyber attackers create cross-platform ransomware easily. There are also ransomware marketplace websites that offer malware strains, asking only for a cut in the profit of successful ransomware attacks.
Cyber attackers need not be tech-savvy hackers to cause damage to personal and company digital assets. This makes the threat of ransomware even more dangerous and urgent.
Why Ransomware Cyberattackers are Hard to Detect
The cyber attackers of today aren’t your typical hackers who work solo to get a one-time payoff. There are now cybercrime groups who devise ransomware scams and use anonymous cryptocurrency for their transactions so they’re almost impossible to trace.
Because it’s a concentrated effort, even ransomware novices can help in the creation of a grand cyberattack scheme. Most ransomware is also polymorphic by design to allow cybercriminals to bypass signature-based security easily.
Recently, the ransomware marketplace has been growing because of the emergence of ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS). RaaS is an economic model that allows malware developers to thrive even if they don’t distribute their threats.
They can continue creating malware and sell it via the marketplace and even get a percentage of what a buyer gets for a successful cyberattack. It’s both lucrative and low-risk for malware developers because their buyers do most of the grunt work and face most of the risk. These developers can either offer. subscription service or a fixed fee for the malware they create for their customers.
Fighting the “Data Kidnappers”
While there are ways and digital solutions that will help keep cyber attackers at bay, the key to a strong and efficient data security model is education and vigilance. New cybersecurity threats will pop up over time, but keeping abreast of security trends, keeping the fundamentals in mind, and frequently checking and updating your security protocols will help build a wall that, although not completely impenetrable, will give cybercriminals a hard time. Ultimately, more than updating your software and systems, you should always keep your security knowledge updated because there’s no better backup than a mindset that’s prepared and open to new and innovative solutions.
