The results of a new study conducted by Infoblox suggest that more than half of UK retailers are planning to increase their cybersecurity defences for Christmas.
Infoblox’ survey involved 3,000 consumers and retail professionals in the UK, Germany, Benelux, and the US.
Survey researchers conducted the poll to learn more about their experiences and the techniques businesses are using to counter this type of crime.
63% of UK retailers said they increased their cybersecurity defences during the holiday season, while 63% of retailers in Germany also upped their security protection.
According to the report, the reason why retailers have adopted stricter measures is to prevent on-going social engineering attacks. Aside from the UK and Germany, 25% of IT professionals in the Netherlands’ retail sector also said the rise of social engineering attacks is also a concern.
Other kinds of attacks reported were social media scams, such as distributed denial of service (DDoS) and ransomware.
The report noted that social media scams were of most concern in the US (19%), followed by the UK (15%), the Netherlands (14%) and Germany (12%).
DDoS attacks were of great concern for the Netherlands (20%) followed by Germany (17%), the UK (12%) and the US (7%).
Furthermore, the report also states that ransomware was the biggest concern for the US (12%), followed by Germany (11%), the UK (10%), and the Netherlands (9%).
Cybersecurity upgrades in the UK
According to the report, British retailers are planning a number of security upgrades to prevent and detect any cyberattacks, with artificial intelligence (43%) leading the way as the technology most likely to be implemented within the year. UK retailers also plan to implement IoT devices (35%), fourth screen technology (24%), omnichannel technology (23%), and augmented reality (17%).
“The level of online shopping activity always increases significantly during the holiday season and can provide rich pickings for the opportunistic cyber-criminal, so it’s no coincidence that more than half of retailers will increase their cybersecurity spending during their most prosperous and dangerous time of year,” said Gary Cox, Technology Director, Western Europe, at Infoblox.
“It’s critical that enterprises take measures to get additional network visibility so they can respond quickly to potential cyber incidents which could result in lost revenue and brand damage.”