How Secure Is Your Website?
Australia’s hospitality industry is a perennial target of cybercriminals who will use any means necessary to gain valuable information. Some of their fraudulent activities are spoofing your website and creating fake accommodation deals. These ads often appear to be almost legitimate that the average customer, might not notice the difference between them and your own promotional offers. There are a lot more of these illegal activities that only an IT security consultant company may be able to identify for you.
Peak Season for Cyber-Attacks
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) warned that fraudsters usually become more active during the months leading up to the holiday season. According to ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard, some criminals may even send ‘confirmation’ emails to trick a person further into believing the authenticity of a transaction. These phishing emails often bear a striking resemblance to the real thing. They may use the logo or an email address that is similar to the one that the company uses. It can be difficult to prevent phishing attacks without the help of an IT security consultant company.
Scammers target consumer-facing websites such as Airbnb and lure potential victims by advertising bargain deals for accommodations at in-demand places. Once an interested buyer clicks on a link on your website, they will be redirected to a different site where hackers will attempt to collect payment and personal information. Those who are between 18 and 34 years old are the most frequent victims of online scams.
What You Can Do
You shouldn’t expect the problem to disappear on its own. With the help of an IT security consultant company, you can stop online scams. A specific preventive measure requires the use of secure and authorised payment methods. This can discourage crooks from tricking a person to pay via wire transfer. The ACCC said that scammers normally ask for payment through services such as Western Union and MoneyGram, which should be a red flag for consumers.
Does your website have HTTPS security? This alone can greatly influence a potential customer’s decision to input confidential data such as credit card numbers and other forms of personally identifiable information. In July 2018, Google set a deadline for all websites to have HTTPS security. If your website still doesn’t have it, Chrome may flag your website as ‘not secure’. Compliance is important because the browser accounted for a 43.88% market share of Internet users in Australia as of May 2019, according to StatCounter.
Ask an IT security consultant company about how you can upgrade your website security. You should also conduct an IT audit to determine whether or not your system has other vulnerabilities.
The Final Word
Your company doesn’t just lose potential revenue when customers don’t trust the security of your website. It’s possible to recover from all losses that your business incurred from a cyber attack. The same, however, may not apply to your clients’ trust. Take action by looking for an IT security consultant company that can help you by providing a customised solution.
