Allen Kopelman, CEO of Nationwide Payment Systems Inc. and host of B2B Vault: The Biz-to-Biz Podcast, discusses the increasing prevalence of fraud in digital commerce. A 2023 LexisNexis study found that 60% of ecommerce merchants and 53% of retailers reported higher levels of fraud over the past year, with most criminal activities occurring during new customer sign-ups and payment transactions. To address this issue, Kopelman emphasizes the importance of business owners taking a proactive approach to monitoring, detecting, and stopping physical and virtual fraud.
Reflecting on his own experiences in helping a customer remediate a cybersecurity incident, Kopelman and his partner, Dave, share six tips on how to keep businesses secure, alert, and compliant in the digital-first era. These tips include conducting on-premise inspections for skimming devices, setting velocity controls on payment gateways to prevent fraud attacks, controlling access points to limit exposure to cybersecurity threats, blocking phishing and smishing attacks, managing permission levels to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data, and implementing multifactor authentication for enhanced security.
In addition to these tips, Kopelman highlights the importance of continuously monitoring digital payments and buy-now-pay-later transactions, as well as the impact of major data security breaches on the creation of synthetic identities by criminals. The rise of connected devices in homes and offices, such as smart TVs, wearables, printers, and security cameras, has created new vulnerabilities for hackers to exploit through the Internet of Things (IoT). To mitigate these risks, Kopelman advises taking a proactive approach to security to avoid potential fines, legal fees, and damage to revenue, customers, and reputation.
The evolving threat landscape of cybercrime, with hackers becoming more sophisticated and mounting attacks at scale, underscores the need for organizations to prioritize cybersecurity measures. By implementing best practices such as conducting regular security audits, educating employees on cybersecurity awareness, and leveraging advanced authentication methods like multifactor authentication, businesses can better defend against cyber threats and protect sensitive data. Ultimately, taking proactive steps to enhance security measures can help organizations mitigate risks and safeguard against potential cybersecurity incidents.
Kopelman’s insights highlight the critical importance of staying vigilant in the face of increasing cyber threats in the digital age. By incorporating robust cybersecurity practices and leveraging advanced technologies to secure digital transactions and networks, businesses can better protect themselves against fraud, data breaches, and other cyber threats. In a rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape, proactive measures are essential to safeguarding sensitive information and maintaining the trust of customers and stakeholders.