E-Commerce: Cyber-Fraud Risk Assessment tool
Bruce Bird
Technology senior leader, risk and compliance advisor, innovator, analysis-driven decision maker, fraud prevention leader, management consultant
FIR Risk Tuesday E44: Are you confident in your e-commerce site’s defenses against cybercriminal fraud? Our newly designed E-commerce Fraud Readiness Assessment helps you evaluate your current security posture using 10 key questions covering payment processing, account protection, website security, and more.
For example, a business scoring a 20/30—equivalent to selecting a “B” response on every question—achieves a “Good” readiness level but still has opportunities for improvement. Here’s a hypothetical dashboard with next steps for improvement below:
Take the assessment below to check your level of readiness to prevent E-commerce fraud:
E-commerce Fraud Readiness Assessment
1. Payment System Security
How secure is your payment processing system?
? A. We use fully compliant, up-to-date payment gateways with strong encryption.
? B. We use compliant gateways, but encryption methods are sometimes outdated.
? C. Our payment systems are updated irregularly and encryption is not consistently robust.
? D. We do not have a modern, compliant payment processing system.
2. Payment Fraud Prevention
What measures do you have to detect and prevent unauthorized transactions and chargeback fraud?
? A. We have advanced monitoring, fraud detection software, and automated alerts in place.
? B. Basic transaction monitoring is in place with occasional manual reviews.
? C. We rely on periodic audits without real-time monitoring.
? D. There are no specific measures to detect or prevent payment fraud.
3. Account Takeover Protection
How do you secure user accounts against takeover attempts such as credential stuffing?
? A. We enforce strong password policies and multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all accounts.
? B. MFA is enabled on critical accounts, but not universally applied.
? C. Passwords are managed internally with basic policies, with no MFA.
? D. There are no special controls to prevent account takeovers.
4. Prevention of Fake Account Creation
How do you verify new sign-ups to prevent fake accounts and bot attacks?
? A. We use rigorous identity verification and bot-detection techniques for every new account.
? B. We have verification steps for most sign-ups, but some gaps exist.
? C. We use minimal checks which are often bypassed by bots.
? D. No verification processes are in place.
5. E-commerce Platform Security
How do you ensure your website software is secure against known vulnerabilities?
? A. Regular patching, updates, and comprehensive security testing are standard practice.
? B. We patch critical vulnerabilities but update and test less frequently overall.
? C. Updates and tests are performed sporadically, with no formal schedule.
? D. We do not actively manage or test our platform security.
6. Web Application Vulnerability Protection
How robust is your input validation and testing to protect against attacks like XSS or SQL injection?
? A. We enforce strict input validation and perform regular penetration tests.
? B. We use some validation and testing, but it isn’t comprehensive.
? C. Minimal security checks are conducted, leaving potential gaps.
? D. There is no process for validating inputs or testing against such attacks.
7. Website Availability Resilience
How resilient is your website to DDoS attacks and other disruptions that could affect availability?
? A. We have robust DDoS mitigation, load balancing, and redundancy measures in place.
? B. Some measures are in place, but our protection could be strengthened.
? C. We have basic infrastructure that may not withstand a focused attack.
? D. We lack any significant measures to ensure website availability during attacks.
8. Social Engineering & Phishing Awareness
What steps do you take to protect against phishing attacks targeting customers and employees?
? A. We conduct regular, comprehensive training and use advanced email filtering and authentication protocols.
? B. Training is provided periodically, and basic email security is in place.
? C. Occasional reminders are given, but no structured training program exists.
? D. No specific awareness or technical measures are in place.
9. Promotion and Coupon Abuse Prevention
How do you mitigate the risk of bots harvesting coupons and fraudulent use of promotions?
? A. We use advanced bot-detection, rate-limiting, and secure coupon distribution processes.
? B. Basic anti-bot measures and monitoring exist, though they could be more robust.
? C. We have some measures, but they are not consistently effective.
? D. There are no controls to prevent coupon abuse.
10. Data Protection and Regulatory Compliance
How do you safeguard customer data and ensure compliance with data protection regulations?
? A. We use state-of-the-art encryption, strict access controls, and fully adhere to regulations like GDPR/CCPA.
? B. We have strong data protection measures, but regulatory compliance is monitored less frequently.
? C. Data protection measures are in place, but there are gaps in regulatory compliance.
? D. There is little to no process to protect customer data or ensure regulatory compliance.
Now, using your responses above, grade your assessment using the scoring methodology below:
Scoring & Dashboard Concept
Scoring:
? A = 3 points (Strong control)
? B = 2 points (Moderate control)
? C = 1 point (Minimal control)
? D = 0 points (No control)
Total Possible Score: 30 points
? 25 – 30: Excellent readiness – Your defenses are robust and comprehensive.
? 18 – 24: Good readiness – Solid measures are in place, with opportunities for improvement.
? 10 – 17: Needs Improvement – Key areas require attention to strengthen your defenses.
? 0 – 9: Critical Risk – Immediate actions are required to mitigate significant vulnerabilities.
#CyberSecurity #FraudPrevention #EcommerceSecurity #CyberRisk #DigitalSafety #InfoSec #SMBSecurity #CyberAwareness
Stay tuned for more to come on Cyber Fraud in future FIR Risk Newsletters!
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