50% of online retailers lose financial information

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While the two business segments share this similarity, their attitudes towards security technology are different: only 53% of the e-commerce/online retail segment indicated that they "make every effort to keep anti-fraud measures up to date", which is 10% lower than the overall global average. Since the entire business model of online merchants is based on payment processing, this reluctance to invest in anti-fraud measures might cause business losses in case of a security incident.

The financial services segment takes a more positive and proactive approach towards securing financial data: 64% of these organisations said they "make every effort to keep anti-fraud measures up to date". Additionally, 52% of financial services providers reported a desire to implement new technologies to protect financial transactions, compared to 46% of the e-commerce/online retail segment.

Kaspersky Lab's survey also asked businesses that experienced a serious data loss incident about steps taken afterwards to protect their customers. Despite their differing attitudes, both the e-commerce/online retail and financial services sectors took similar steps to implement additional protections. The most common measure implemented was "providing secure connections for customer transactions", which was done by 88% of financial services organisations, and 78% of e-commerce/online retailers. Financial services providers are more focused on proposing specialised solutions for mobile devices than e-commerce/online retailers (75% vs 56%, respectively).

In general, the least common step taken by both financial services providers and e-commerce/online retailers following a data breach was to provide free or discounted versions of premium internet security software to their customers. It would appear that both sectors are more willing to invest in securing their own systems, rather than investing in securing their customers' systems.

Lastly, despite the relatively high adoption rates of specialised fraud protection for end points following a data breach - 71% for financial services, and 62% for e-commerce/online retailers - the flip-side of those numbers is noteworthy. These numbers show that approximately one-third of companies in both sectors are still not investing in financial security software, even after financial information is stolen from them in a data-breach incident.

Recommendations

Security industry research shows that businesses specialising in collecting and processing customer payment information are being actively targeted by cyber criminals. Kaspersky Lab's survey proves that these businesses are very likely to lose payment data through a data breach. Instead of reacting to the attack, Kaspersky Lab advises businesses to be proactive in securing their IT networks, as well as securing payment systems with specialised protection.

Companies should use a comprehensive security solution, like Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business, which helps protect the whole network from an onslaught of malware, phishing, and other cyber threats, and at the same time gives IT managers convenient single administrator console, providing visibility and policy control over the security of their network. Financial institutions also need specialised solutions, such as Kaspersky Fraud Prevention, which also ensures the protection of customer end points, including their mobile devices, and provides an SDK for reinforcing the security of mobile banking applications. This fraud protection platform also includes Kaspersky Lab's threat intelligence services that help increase bank employees' level of cyber threat knowledge.

To find out more about Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business and Kaspersky Fraud Prevention, go to www.kaspersky.co.za/business-security.