Member Article

Retailers, beware of Cyber Monday

Cyber Monday is the online-only shopping equivalent of Black Friday. It is a day of potential online bargains when many people will be logging into e-commerce websites to browse for the latest deals. This year, Cyber Monday falls on 28 November, and it is expected to be the biggest online shopping day of the year.

For retailers, this potentially can be a vulnerable time, with heighten scams and cyber attacks.

Justin Tivey, Legal Director at national law firm Bond Dickinson LLP, said: “Cyber Monday could be a vulnerable time as retailers will have more new customer details than normal – that data is the goldmine for a malicious party. Also if cyber criminals were targeting a retailer for ransom or a denial of service attack it might have more impact next Monday. The general level of internet traffic might make it harder to detect suspicious activity inside or outside a business.

“Vigilance and preparation are key. It is not too late even now to at least put a plan of action in place and to have a team ready to respond to any incident. Most incidents are planned over a long period of time so are already in train – but that means there may be tell-tale signs on computer systems already. Anyone hesitating over a cyber insurance purchase might be best advised to buy it now rather than this time next week. A cyber policy could bring with it a team of external consultants and cover for business costs and cover against third party clams of the worst happens.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Womble Bond Dickinson LLP .