Retail cyber threats rise as holiday season nears

Nearly 700% more retail fraud incidents have been reported during the second half of the year ahead of the holiday season, with fraud involving gift cards and payment cards rising by 110% and more than 700%, respectively, during the same period, SiliconAngle reports. Moreover, account takeover attacks against retailers increased by 410-fold between September and November, which was also accompanied by a staggering increase in automated inclusions of large amounts of products to customers' online carts, a report from Cequence Security showed. Malicious web traffic has also been observed from 719 million IP addresses, with malicious login attempts totaling 325 million from June to November. "The 2023 holiday season exposed a chilling reality: cybercriminals are employing increasingly sophisticated attack methods and meticulously planning months in advance to exploit vulnerabilities... This shift underscores the urgent need for heightened vigilance and proactive security measures throughout the year," said Cequence Director of Threat Research William Glazier.