It is that time of year again: The holiday shopping season has begun! E-commerce sales are fast increasing because many consumers are skipping storefronts in favor of shopping online.

Thankfully, online buying is becoming more intuitive and simple by the day, making it easier to choose the perfect present. However, before starting your online shopping spree, make sure you are not putting yourself in danger.

Businesses are obviously after your money during the holidays, but hackers are on the prowl now more than ever.

With that, the CISA warns shoppers ahead of the holiday shopping season to be wary of cybercriminals and their nefarious and inventive methods of stealing money and personal information. Always remember that if an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is, and never give out personal information to an unknown party or a website you do not trust.

This article will tap into the best tips to stay safe this shopping holiday season.

The Threats to Cybersecurity During the Holiday Shopping Season

The holidays are ideal for cybercriminals because there are so many opportunities to deceive online buyers. When they make their holiday shopping, consumers get bombarded with receipts, order confirmations, and shipping tracking information.

Scammers may fake all of them, and unsuspecting consumers may not realize the URLs and documents are not genuine.

Scammers utilize various methods to deceive consumers, including phishing emails that advertise brand-name items, rapid money-making promises, or gift cards as an inducement to buy a product.

Phishing efforts frequently employ fictitious coupons, discounts, or rewards programs to attract users to click links or provide personal information. Scammers mimic the logos and websites of actual organizations to make fake pleas for donations when people boost charity around the holidays.

All of this means disaster for businesses. If a user clicks on a malicious link, attachment, or website, criminals could launch a cyberattack on the company’s network. Remote workers using personal devices to connect to the network may unintentionally distribute viruses or leak important data.

When are you Most Vulnerable?

Both organizations and consumers get particularly exposed to cybercriminal threats over the holiday season. Consumers tend to jump at every opportunity for discounts and promotions, even if they are not true because everyone wants to obtain the best bargain on the things they will buy.

According to one survey, the Christmas shopping estimate for 2021 estimates over $1 trillion in retail expenditure, with a rise of 11.3% in online sales. Criminals are aware of this development and will attempt to profit from increased online purchases and promotions.

This scam can include sending text messages posing as a legitimate company, containing fraudulent deals to help save money, or getting a gift card.

Companies, particularly online retailers, on the other hand, are extremely vulnerable to attacks for the following reasons:

• Since retail sites and applications rely on inbound traffic for income, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) extortion could be lucrative.
• Because payments are processed, credit card fraud is a persistent threat.
• Customers must be able to access their accounts, allowing hackers to steal passwords.
• Hackers get enticed to infiltrate the retailer’s back-end systems and steal account data because customer accounts include many valuable personally identifiable information.
• Spambots are common because web users can often contribute their content to online retailers.

Whether you are just starting to scroll through the products offered, and especially when you are paying for the products you order, there is no doubt that the holiday season is a breeding ground for most cybercriminal activities. This uptick in cybercrime, coming from all angles, renders companies, regardless of size, highly vulnerable.

Top Five Tips to Stay Safe During the Holidays

While you may not have to worry about getting burgled in the virtual world, you must be vigilant to avoid becoming a victim of cybercriminals. Here are five online shopping tips to keep your personal information safe from cybercriminals:

• Be Wary About Getting a Communication from Unknown Senders. Even though many businesses will utilize text messages to advertise their discounts, you must opt in to get them. This message is most certainly a fraud if you have not permitted an organization to text you.
• Double-check that the Deals are Authentic. If you are interested in the deal, visit the company’s official website or directly get in touch with them. They will tell you whether or not the deal is legitimate and how to take advantage of the offer.
• Install Antivirus Software on your Devices. It is critical to secure your information from cybercrime, whether on your phone or your computer. Antivirus software can assist you by screening for anything potentially harmful, such as malware, and alerting you before clicking on a malicious link.
• Do Not Click on Links sent to you by an Unknown Source. Because connections frequently get shortened, it is difficult to tell where you will get sent. If you click on the link, it may direct you to a malicious website that attempts to capture your personal information or possibly download malware to your device.
• Monitor your Credit. Pay special attention to your credit report throughout this time to ensure that nothing unusual is happening. The world of online shopping may bring you a plethora of new things and can be a lot of fun when choosing that perfect gift. Just keep in mind that you do not want to make your data a unique present to cybercriminals.

Conclusion

As a company, you are responsible for your data and the data of your customers. Cybercriminals are becoming more inventive than ever in their quest to perpetrate cyberattacks on vulnerable organizations and consumers. As a result, it may be time to rethink your cybersecurity procedures.

Consider run2biz in this regard. Simon, an Artificial Intelligence solution for IT operations with Predictive Analytics, is available through run2biz to assist performance and evolve digital transformation rapidly, consistent, and compatible with the time’s increasingly accelerated changes.

Simon can correlate autonomously using a Centralized Monitoring feature; thus, no matter what monitoring tools your organization utilizes, trust that run2biz can enhance your root cause investigation and minimize warning noise by up to 99%.

Contact run2biz today to know how they can keep you and your customers safe this holiday season and beyond.