As far as eCommerce has come, there are still enough red flags and warning signs to put off a great deal of shoppers. Anytime they use their credit cards online, they’re opening themselves up to the possibility of having that number stolen — and we all know the potential consequences of a credit card in the wrong hands. A recent study by Kaspersky Lab found that online fraud is a legitimate fear of more than half of shoppers, which just goes to show how much work the ecommerce world still needs to do. RepricerExpress takes a look at what these concerns are, and what you can do to address them.
Data More Important Than Device
Mobile phones and laptops aren’t exactly cheap nowadays (and nor have they ever really been), so you’d think users would go to great lengths to protect them. However, when faced with a Sophie’s choice of protecting their phone/computer or the information inside, 52% of people said they’d opt for the latter.
It also looks like users aren’t terribly great at backing up what’s on their devices, either. Only 29% of those polled said they backed up their data regularly, with 11% at the complete other end of the spectrum where they not only don’t back up their data, but also have no plans of doing so.
Of the users surveyed in the Kaspersky Lab study, 15% of them said that if the data that’s on their devices were lost, it would be impossible to get it back. Most times, having things lost like phone numbers, texts or pics isn’t a big problem, but if users are storing things like credit card information or personal addresses, that can be a bit of a crisis.
Put a Password on It
So, it seems like the logical choice is to password-protect the smartphone or laptop, right? That way, if the device gets into the wrong hands, they won’t be able to access the software and data inside, potentially getting permanently locked out after too many wrong tries.
But again, we run into a problem where this isn’t always and entirely the case. According to Kaspersky Lab, the safest users are those who use OS X, with 80% of them password-protecting their devices. Windows users are just a little bit behind at 76%, but the most careless ones can be found in the Android family. Only two in three Android smartphone users have a password, while that number drops to a shocking 57% for Android tablet owners.
While you can go around making sure everyone’s is locked and protected, you can put a little note on your website as a reminder so your customers know you care.
Financial Transactions: Be Careful of Who’s Watching
One of the neatest things about smartphones and tablets is they combine so many of life’s activities into one little handheld device.
The not-so-neat thing about smartphones and tablets is they tend to not be impervious to greasy hands.
In the Kaspersky Lab report, a whopping four in five people use their devices to conduct financial transactions like paying their bills, buying things, and so on. Of that 80%, a little less than half (40%) need mobile Internet for this. And you know who else is online when customers are paying their bills and buying products?
Cyber criminals.
As a merchant, you can take steps to safeguard against this and ease your buyers’ worries, such as investing in good business-class antivirus software, patch and configure your systems the right way, and use a reputable third party for handling financial transactions (e.g. PayPal). For more tips, click here.
A Laissez-Faire Attitude Toward Protection
What’s perhaps most mind-boggling of all is not just how oblivious people are to the potential dangers lurking around in cyberspace, but also how convinced they are that nothing bad will happen to them.
When polled by Kaspersky Lab, a mere 22% took the threat of a personal attack seriously, while more than two-thirds (39%) didn’t believe at all it could happen to them. What’s even worse is 13% believe that protective and security solutions are nothing more than an unnecessary gimmick.
On the other hand, when asked if they would ever feel they’ve been at risk of a threat, 58% said yes and just a little less (50%) said they probably think they’ve been spied on through their devices. The news about the NSA’s actions, we can’t help but think, have probably led to these numbers increasing.
What you can do is include a paragraph to your buyers about how you’re not selling their information to third parties and briefly outline the steps you’ve taken in protecting what they’re about to hand over. It helps to include logos of the companies you’re using to protect their information so shoppers can visually see what you’re doing in their defence.
