Cybersecurity evolves: from data breaches to ransomware attacks, retailers face new challenges. Diversification and proactive defense are key, says Susan Jeffers, Co-Founder & CEO of XY Retail.
Retailers used to sweat about data breaches—names, addresses, credit cards—the whole treasure trove. Hackers loved stealing this information, creating a booming market for stolen identities and payment information. A breach meant lost money, and even worse, customers lost trust that took forever to rebuild.
But guess what? Data breaches are old news. Here’s the new nightmare: attackers target retailer systems directly, messing with their supply chain and everyday operations. Customer data is still a target, but it’s more like a side hustle these days. The main goal? To shut down retail operations completely with ransomware.
Think of ransomware as a digital padlock that slams shut on critical systems, holding everything hostage until a big ransom is paid. A 2023 Sophos survey found that 66% of companies got hit by ransomware in the past year, and 84% of those victims lost business because of it. Even if they didn’t pay the ransom, restoring from backups costs a lot of…
