Going digital: the changing context of cybersecurity in retail 2017 could see another tipping point in e-commerce, as traditional retailers are increasingly moving to digital/online based business models and the leading online players continue pursuing ambitious growth agendas. Consumer behaviour is changing- seemingly no one wants to shop in a store anymore. According to Deloitte, 58% of consumers have used their phone or a web browser to shop and 38% do it at least once a week. And, in the surest sign that digital sales in retail will probably only accelerate: Deloitte found that younger generations, especially 25-to 34-year-olds, are more engaged with their phones for shopping, with 85% using their devices for website browsing and 76% …show more content…
But even though the results of a breach can be devastating, as exemplified by Home Depot paying customers a $19.5 million settlement for its 2014 credit card breach, many retailers still struggle to follow basic cybersecurity steps. SecurityScoreCard analyzed the cybersecurity practices of 48 of the biggest U.S. retailers – including Apple, Gap, WalMart, Home Depot and Target – just before the holiday shopping season of 2016 and found that every single one of them had many issues with cybersecurity. Nearly 80% of the biggest retailers may not be using intrusion detection or prevention systems to monitor all traffic within the cardholder data environment, and 43% of them were infected with malware earlier in the year. The analysis showed that even the biggest retailers are not keeping up with the growing need for a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy. As RetailDive recently illustrated, retailers must take the following steps to enhance cybersecurity if they want to take advantage of digital channels: Ensure they’re investing in a high quality and secure domain