The number of internet consumers is rising and will continue to climb. Over the past two years, digital buyers have climbed by 150 million annually. This value should remain steady for several years. About two billion individuals will regularly buy products and transfer money online by 2020. Perhaps most intriguing is that this growth in numbers could have been substantially greater without security, which many online shoppers value.
An Unsafe World
Cybercriminals have historically targeted online stores and other businesses that sell goods and services online. The reasons are many and understandable. Such firms and their data systems will store a lot of personal financial data, including credit card numbers.
Consumer data was stolen in several high-profile data breaches in 2015. While 2016 has seen more ransomware assaults (without data compromise) than anything else, it has also had data breaches. Online businesses and service providers were victims of many of this year’s largest breaches.
Acer’s June data breach compromised over 30,000 U.S. and Canadian online buyers’ personal information, including credit card numbers. The third-party payment processing system was to blame, but Acer is still responsible.
It proves that even the world’s largest and most technologically advanced companies may be compromised.
The Consumer View
It’s easy to see why stories like this deter consumers from shopping online. In this digital age, consumers know how easily personal data may be accessible by people and organizations who shouldn’t have it.
In the early days of online purchasing, the Journal of Business Research found that financial risk was the most commonly perceived risk among online shoppers, followed by product performance and time/convenience risks. Connexity has revealed that approximately two thirds of American internet customers worry about data security provided by their vendors. Other research confirms that online shoppers prioritize security.
The issue goes beyond data security. Online shopping models like marketplaces have their own issues. Besides handling data, such websites and services must assure that sellers and purchasers will honor the agreement.
Its Treatment
Sometimes it feels like ecommerce vendors, marketplace operators, and online service providers are perpetually behind. They are in many ways. This is because most cybersecurity solutions are reactive, deployed after vulnerabilities are found.
Fortunately, most online service providers and stores are secure. Cybersecurity companies worldwide are doing a terrific job supplying such companies with the greatest security measures. Most governments have launched steps to protect internet consumers and are requiring collaboration to lessen hazards.
Ecommerce and internet business owners are always seeking for solutions to strengthen security and reduce data breaches.
More enterprises, services, and merchants are reporting security breaches and fraud to assist minimize assaults and their success rate.
Ending Word
Online purchasing and money transfers may never be 100% safe. Still, there are other trends that make us optimistic, including teamwork.
Shop online wisely until then.
