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vulnerability. When people viewed the video, they unwittingly bombarded the site, as their
computers had become "DDoS zombies".

The ingenious and devastating plot hit an eCommerce security industry that was already jittery
after a report by the security firm Incapsula found a 240 percent increase in traditional DDoS
attacks between 2013 and 2014.

The video-sharing attack proved that DDoS is the tool of choice for cybercriminals, and as their
strategies are becoming more sophisticated and unpredictable, the primary focus of the
eCommerce security industry is to regain ground lost in this area to cyber criminals.

eCommerce Leading the Way?

According to data security industry
publication CSO, physical retailers are
struggling to keep up with online sellers
when it comes to digital security. The
reason for this may be found in the
frequency of updates. eCommerce sites
update their order and payment
applications far more frequently than
brick-and-mortar stores. Just as important
is the fact that retail chains take far longer
to respond to multi-store attacks, which
makes them much juicier targets for
attackers.

The biggest threat facing eCommerce sites seems to be DDoS attacks that are launched
through media consumers who are unknowing and unwilling participants in the attack. The most
powerful tool that the industry seems to have at its disposal is mutually beneficial data sharing
that informs every business in a pact about the nature and type of attack suffered by any one
member of the group. The good news is that for all the increasing attacks facing eCommerce
sites, the industry's situation is much brighter than that of their cousins in physical retail.

About the Author

Nick Rojas is a business consultant and writer who lives in Los
Angeles. He has consulted small and medium-sized enterprises for
over twenty years. He has contributed articles to Visual.ly,
Entrepreneur, and TechCrunch. You can follow him on Twitter
@NickARojas, or you can reach him at
[email protected].

26 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – May 2015 Edition
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