How to protect your eCommerce business this Black Friday

As the busiest shopping season of the year approaches, eCommerce businesses across the South East will be preparing to promote their products, engage with their customers, and maximise their sales; but with huge spikes in website traffic, payment processing and customer interactions, comes more active criminal activity. If you’re running an online store, now is the time to strengthen your cyber resilience before the big rush and make sure your business is ready for the cyber threats associated with Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the Christmas shopping period so that you can enjoy the benefits and opportunities that this season brings without falling victim to a cyber incident.  

Why cyber security matters more than ever during this period

Black Friday and Cyber Monday may be peak times for sales, but they are also peak times for cyber attacks. Criminals will target your staff or customers with phishing attempts, fake websites or malicious payment pages to steal your customer’s credentials. A single incident could not only cost your business money, but it could also damage your reputation and be detrimental your customers’ trust.

Our fully funded cyber security services can help you identify vulnerabilities in your system before criminals can exploit them. Simple steps such as updating software, using 2-step verification, and regularly backing up your data can also make a huge difference.

Make cyber security part of your daily routine

Your team plays a critical role in protecting your business. In fact, your staff are your first and last line of defence. Many cyber incidents start with a simple error made by a staff member clicking a malicious link or accidentally sharing sensitive information. That’s why having cyber security awareness at the core of your company culture is essential. Encourage everybody in your eCommerce operations, from marketing to customer service, to stay alert to suspicious activity, unusual traffic, and anything else that seems out of the ordinary.

Refresh your team’s knowledge before the rush with a cyber security awareness training  session, focusing on how to spot phishing attempts, avoid social engineering scams, and safely handling sensitive data. Human error remains one of the biggest risks to online businesses. Regular cyber awareness training ensures your employees understand the most common threats, know how to recognise them, and who to report it to. The South East Cyber Resilience Centre works with businesses of all sizes across the South East to deliver fully funded cyber awareness training that helps staff feel confident in playing their part in keeping the business secure.

Revisit your cyber security strategy ahead of time

In order to be a cyber resilient business, you must be able to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a cyber incident. This means revisiting your cyber security strategy before busy periods to ensure that your protocols are going to be strong enough to handle the increased risk. Your response plan should allow your website, reputation, and business operations to bounce back quickly should something go wrong. Start by reviewing this plan and making sure your systems are secure and fully compliant with security standards. We partner with Cyber PATH to deliver plan and policy reviews to our members where we will identify any weaknesses in your response plan and give you advice on how this can be improved, helping your business achieve cyber resilience.

Remember, criminals will hide among the increased legitimate traffic to your website and wait to strike when your staff are busy or overwhelmed by the number of customers they are serving or orders they are processing. It’s important that your team stay vigilant even through the busiest times.

Stay secure this Black Friday and Cyber Monday

The excitement of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and the prospect of maximising sales, can easily distract businesses from the cyber security essentials. Staying alert is key to protecting your profits, your people, and your processes. If you’re unsure where to start, the South East Cyber Resilience Centre can help. Becoming a member today gives your business access to expert guidance, cyber security resources, and cyber security services tailored to your business’ needs.

This shopping season, make cyber resilience part of your business’ success story.