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Email-based cyberattacks are on the rise and heat up before the Christmas retail peak period. No industry is immune; approximately 185,000 1 Irish workers have fallen victim to a phishing scam. These attacks are often a result of an organisation’s staff members risky online behaviour and a lack of investment in cybersecurity policies, training and awareness.
Phishing attacks impact retailers at 41% 2 far more than other industries. During the Christmas retail peak period, people may be distracted thinking about Christmas or expecting parcels to arrive.
Hackers exploit retailers’ peak period and staff’s lack of cybercrime understanding, training and awareness and will use sophisticated phishing methods, such as:
Phishing attacks that result in access and compromise of customer personal data carry some of the most significant cyber risks and consequences for an organisation, which include; loss of customer trust, damage to retailers’ reputation and hefty GDPR fines from the Data Protection Commission. Customers are also likely to take their business elsewhere if they are subjected to a personal data breach.
Staff are often not clear on how their risky online behaviour could result in a compromise of customer, staff or company information because:
These days technology is less likely to be the cyber vulnerability for an organisation; it’s the human risk that poses the most significant risk - investing in educating humans and making them cyber aware needs to be a priority for all retailers, regardless of size.
Delivering continuous cyber education to help individuals understand the risks and consequences of their behaviours is key to ensuring cybersecurity becomes part of a retailer’s corporate culture. Here are some tips to get started:
Cyber threats are dynamic and continuously changing before your organisation falls victim to the next email-based headline news cyberattack, remind staff to ‘stop and think’ before opening links and attachments during the festivities and wisely invest in a cyberculture, training and awareness program.
1 www.datapac.com/phishing-scam-survey-results
2 www.paymentssource.com/opinion/phishing-attacks-spike-around-the-holidays
For more information contact Sarah at shipkin@mazars.ie
This article first appeared in the December 2019 edition of ShelfLife magazine.
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