Cybersecurity in Retail

The digital revolution is changing the way customers interact with and what they expect out of retail businesses. From an increase in curbside pickup systems, contactless payment options, voice commerce, data-informed recommendations and more, businesses are making moves to adapt and use cloud technologies.

But as more retail businesses around the world shift to online commerce, the more risk they assume with their new assets and endpoints. This expanded attack surface opens more opportunities for cybercriminals to access mission critical applications and steal information like customer demographics, inventory information, shipping details and sensitive financial data.

Why is cybersecurity in retail important?

As digital interfaces get more varied and useful, it only makes sense that retailers adopt these new technologies to better serve their business and their customers. Because of this mass adoption, the number of endpoints and potential breaches stemming from point of service (PoS) or cloud based applications increases and puts your business at risk. A recent Thale’s cybersecurity retail report found that within 2018 alone, 50% of retailers experienced a data breach. All endpoints, be they computers in franchise locations or cloud technologies used to coordinate a global supply chain, all need to be watched and managed for your retail business to keep running smoothly.

On top of smooth operations, retail is one of the main industries that use customers’ personally identifiable information (PII) on a regular basis. In a highly competitive marketplace where customers could shop somewhere else without much effort, protecting this information needs to be a priority for your business just as much as protecting your supply chain does. If hacked, millions of customers could have their information stolen and sold on the dark web, at best ruining their trust in your business and at worst, opening up your business to lawsuits. Cybersecurity in the retail industry cannot be a “nice to have” or an afterthought. It’s a necessity and, in some regions of the world, a legal requirement.

More than a partner. A team.

Retail businesses are complex, and this complexity only grows over time. In store and online shoppers expect quick access to accurate information. Stakeholders expect integrated systems that make your omnichannel strategies possible. Your cybersecurity teams should be expected to handle both.

This is where our Squad Delivery Model comes in. We take named resources and dedicate them to running your business’ cybersecurity program. They get to know the ins and outs of your operations, vulnerabilities and expectations while you get to know the individuals that you can easily go to with questions, concerns and strategy changes.

Our Squad Model prioritizes consistent collaboration and quick communication so that we act like a true extension of your business rather than an outsourced team. Your squad gets invested in the security needs of every area of your business to become masters of your retail business. As you or your industry change, your squad has your back.

Never miss an insight

Downtime can cause serious loss to your business, both financially and to your reputation. Making sure that never happens is our biggest goal. At deepwatch, we provide a turn-key Cloud SecOps Platform that dives deep into your security operations, granting you valuable insights into your day to day security operations without being bogged down by alerts or non-synthesized data. We’ve partnered with Splunk as our sole Security Incident & Event Management (SIEM) solution to provide the best of breed coverage for all your endpoints and serve as a valuable resource for our Managed Detection and Response (MDR) and Managed EDR offering.

As partners, deepwatch + Splunk provide you with:

A fully enabled 24x7x365 SOC for ongoing security monitoring, vulnerability management, and endpoint detection & response

Improved store infrastructure, PoS, retail application, digital service and associate device health for an optimized customer experience

Clear insights into omnichannel operations for increased visibility into bottlenecks

Cyber threat intelligence about your retail landscape to reduce overall risk and to investigate and act quicker on detected threats

Learn more about our partnership in the deepwatch + Splunk Joint Solution Brief.

Retail Cybersecurity Success Stories

Retail Business Selects deepwatch to Provide Managed Detection & Response Services Across Business Units

As a consolidated conglomerate of ten international retail business units, the customer has a broad attack surface to monitor and defend. See how deepwatch deployed our SecOps Platform across all 10 business units to deliver alerts in under 30 days.

Learn More

Manufacturing Customer Needed to Enhance Security While Normalizing Data Ingestion Across Five Business Units

A global manufacturing organization with five distinct business units needs an MSSP that meets the level of service and accuracy they need to defend their network from cyberthreats. See how deepwatch fit the bill.

Learn More

FAQs

What are common cybersecurity threats in the retail industry?

Common issues for cybersecurity in retail can range from gift card hacking all the way up to Advanced Persistent Threats (APT) attempting to gain access to logistical or classified information. Some of the more disruptive threats include:

Supply chain attacks: Hackers breach a third party company in order to gain access to first party data or to disrupt the overall supply chain with altered information.
PoS or Internet of Things (IoT) attacks: Hackers access these often overlooked access points to gain financial data, user credentials or PII.
ATP: Other organizations or even state sponsored groups infiltrate an organization to gain information for their competition. Logistical information, manufacturing processes, proprietary data and more is copied and/or stolen.

How can I get started with securing my retail business?

Guarding your data and your customers’ data requires more than a firewall. It is an ongoing measure that takes more than the initial lift needed to set it up. Getting started in setting up a good cybersecurity infrastructure can be a daunting task, but can be done. This whitepaper from Symantec provides some good next steps for organizations looking to get their retail cybersecurity under control. Their key steps include:

Establishing IT governance
Investing in training
Neutralizing third-party risks
Leveraging the NIST framework
Committing to an ongoing investment
Benefiting through industry partnerships

If you’re looking for more guidance, reach out to the experts at deepwatch to see how we can help.

Resources

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