Cyberattack Threats and How to Protect Payments From Them

On July 4, 2024, PYMNTS.com declared, “2024 Is Already the Year of the Cyberattacks.” A bold statement to make only halfway through the year. However, as we approach the close of 2024, this declaration remains valid, with many large global organizations becoming victims of cyberattacks.

The numbers are alarming. IT Governance USA reported in June 2024 that from 2,741 publicly disclosed data breaches and cyberattacks, over 6.8B known records were impacted.

And attacks aren’t slowing down.

According to Check Point, cyberattacks have increased globally by 30% year over year, and IBM reports that the average impact of a data breach for companies with fewer than 500 employees is $3.31M.

Cyberattack tactics are evolving faster than companies can keep up, making them key targets.

Our blog will cover what cyberattacks are and how companies can increase cybersecurity to protect themselves.

What is a cyberattack?

Most simply, a cyberattack is when a bad actor attempts to gain unauthorized access to various systems to steal or expose sensitive data for malicious purposes.

Commonly targeted data includes:

• Financial data
• Personally identifiable information (PII)
• Usernames and passwords
• Intellectual property

The payments space is not immune to attacks. Here we highlight at a high level a few cyberattack types as the list is too long to cover them all.

• Phishing/Smishing
  • These are similar in that they attempt to trick recipients into giving up sensitive information. Phishing uses fake websites and emails, whereas smishing targets text messages and SMS (Short Message Service).
• Bank identification numbers
  • Bad actors use BINs to randomly generate account numbers in the hopes of obtaining valid numbers. They target both debit and credit cards.
• Invoices
  • Fraudsters will pose as a vendor or supplier to get you to pay them. Tactics include, altering payment details, hurried requests to update information, inflated/falsified payment amounts.
• Check fraud
  • Alterations, counterfeiting, forgery, and more are used to illegally obtain money using checks. Additionally, instances of mail theft are contributing to stolen checks.
• Malware
  • Software used to gain unauthorized access to platforms to steal information or disrupt services.
• Ransomware
  • A type of malware where data or systems are held captive until a ransom is paid. Recent ransomware attempts have crippled businesses and demanded millions of dollars.
• Insider threats
  • When a cyberattack is initiated by an employee or partner who misuses internal access to sensitive information or platforms.

Cyberattack Prevention

How can you protect yourself and your business?

Awareness and vigilance are your first lines of defense. If something seems suspicious, it likely is. We have outlined a few tips to keep you safe.

• Ensure all systems and software are up-to-date. While the blue update screen on PCs or constant reminders from Apple can be annoying, they often include important patches to combat the latest attacks.
• Complicate passwords! The more complex, the better, and it is recommended to incorporate letters, numbers and symbols.
• Train employees. In the first half of 2024, 83% of firms reported at least one insider attack. Implement regular training for staff to become proficient in recognizing suspicious activity.

Companies can implement many additional mechanisms, including data backups, firewalls, and access restrictions. Talk with your IT team members to learn more about what is available.

Integrated Payments Ensure Protection

Cyberattacks can cause irreversible damage to companies and individuals. Partnering with a payments provider like REPAY can help protect both AP (accounts payable) and AR (accounts receivable) payments, offering solutions to directly combat the fraud we discussed above.

Give payment security to REPAY. Featuring ACH validation, tokenization / encryption, positive pay, and much more, we safeguard every payment for you so you can focus on running your business instead of protecting it.