Using UEBA To Beef Up Security For Retail Store

According to research, approximately 50 % of medium to large online retailers have been hacked at one point in time. With the frivolous use of credit card information on all online shopping sites and retail stores, this is of course inevitable!

With cyber security attacks getting more sophisticated every day, online and physical retail stores need to beef up their security to prevent more of these data breaches. It goes both ways when it comes to securing user information.

Users should be careful about entering their financial and personal information on shopping sites and stores. And retailers should focus on the use of more sophisticated technology that can help them amplify their stores security. 

Revolutionary methodologies like the entity and user behaviour analytics have entered the market guaranteeing solutions for your security breach problems too. Opt for providers of top-notch services to secure your retail stores, and to ensure a safe experience for the users, even after they've exited or logged out!  

Tips to Secure Retail Store against Cyber Threats

In a world where cyber threats are looming, taking preemptive measures remains a critical aspect of working against them. Here are a few tips that can help you prevent cyber-attacks from a retail store:

1) Check your internet connection

If you're an online retailer, you can easily secure your network parameters. It is essential to change WiFi password and use some of the hardest to discern passwords for you your internet devices.

The same applies to store retailers. Ensure that the passwords are updated every week. Use network names that are generic, and do not make your network stand out among the rest. If possible get your internet providers to limit the range of your internet signals to your store’s area only. 

2) Implement a secure lock system  

The introduction of a system that locks individuals who make multiple wrong attempts at entering the right passwords blocks "userslbokced". A notification regarding the failed attempt can tip you off allowing you to act accordingly. 

3) Classify your data

It's important to classify your information in order to determine which section required more security.  Your customer information is valuable as it contains their financial and personal information. 
Once the more critical data has been identified, it's essential to work to secure the data using technologically advanced methodologies.

The minor of breaches of the critical user data can lead to loss, monetary and reputation wise. 

4) “Authorized personnel only"

A retail business does not require all employees to have access to all the information and passwords. Limiting access to critical organisations information also helps reduce the risks of data breaches as fewer people can access vital company data.  

5) Always be prepared

More important than working against security breaches is the ability of your cybersecurity system to take preemptive measures and prevent any security breaches. Opt for security methodologies like UEBA that take preemptive measures to provide your organisation with the security it needs.

How End User Behavioural Analytics Can Help Out Retail Store Security

There’s good news for real-time and online retail store owners. Conventional methods in data security have failed to prevent security breaches. Vulnerabilities in cyber security of organisations that the evolving security threats target, require revolutionary techniques that can help fortify your store’s cyber perimeters working proactively to prevent any cyber attacks 

EUBA works by allowing your cybersecurity system to comprehend and discern unauthorised access. It also has the ability to identify any insider threats that your organisation may be facing.

To read more about how it targets insider threats read: How EUBA can help in encountering insider threats?

Here is how EUBA works to protects the cyber network of your retail store:

Analysis

The technology works to identify behaviours of users and entities and builds profiles on them. When used for retail shopping the profiles of individual shoppers are identified along with their patterns. The data is used to construct a baseline for an individual shopper. 

Using statistical techniques, irregularities in shopping trends and anomalies in patterns are observed and noted.

Integration

The next step involves integrating the structural and nonstructural information compiled during the analysis process into a preexisting system which helps monitor security.

Presentation

Once comprehensive data is gathered, and patterns can be identified, UEBA presents its results. The analysis phase allows organisations to comprehend the intensity of the security threats and prepares them for unauthorised access which can lead to data loss.

Security experts in UEBA vendors can then recognise the patterns that differ from regular patterns and act on them to prevent security breaches. 

How UEBA security can enhance alert quality for retail

UEBA security detects abnormal behaviour by:

• Highlighting bad vectors without disputing functions of the organisation 
• Sifting through alerts to distinguish between false alarms and actual threats 
• Prioritising threats 
• Reducing time to act on this threats by alerting relevant resources on time

Conclusion

Although a relatively new concept, UEBA is taking the business world by storm. The UEBA market is set to grow from USD 31.7m  in 2016 to USD 908.3m in the year 2021. 

The use of entity and user behavioural analytics in extension with the cyber security tools already in place protecting your cyber network is guaranteed to protect user data and prevent breaches!

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The What, How and Why Of EUBA

According to a source, about 90 % of the attempts to log into retailers' websites are hackers using stolen data.

In the year 2018, 87 million Facebook members lost their data in a massive data breach, by Cambridge Analytica, a political data firm.

Despite the numerous advancements in cyber security, user data breaches have become a norm due to increased sophistication among of threats. 

EUBA

Cybersecurity companies are trying harder to provide the required protection to the millions of people who trust organisations with their most sensitive data. One such advancement in the field of cyber security is called EUBA.

What is Entity And User Behaviour Analytics?

In the world of cyber security, EUBA stands for Entity and User Behavior Analytics In the most basic language it is a type of statistical analysis which tries to study changes in regular patterns which may have the possibility of becoming a threat in the future.

Contrary to the way that most security systems work, i.e. by monitoring different devices and tracking security events, this advanced system works by focusing on the users of these devices.

The system tends to focus on threats companies face from within due to employees who either have suspicious motives, who have been compromised and outsiders who have managed to gain access to your company’s data through a user’s system.

How does it work?

By studying the regular pattern of the behaviour of an end user, EUBA tends to track any offset or irregularities within that trend and highlights any discrepancy by blocking the suspicious user’s attempt.

A good example could be someone ending up with your credit/Debit card band using it to shop. If the type of things the suspicious user buys is not consistent with your usual items, the security system working for your bank may block your card and prevent further usage.

Why organisations need EUBA

With obsolete security systems taking a back seat in the world of sophisticated threats company data faces today, a more proactive, continuously improving security system is required to provide our data with the protection that it requires. 

 Detection of insider threats

Although most companies make their employees sign contracts in which they’re bound to keep information hidden at all times, there is always a chance that some employee will go rogue and start operating against the company.

Especially if the employee has access to sensitive information, employees steal the information, breach the company's security and abuse and exploit the data that has been disclosed to them. UEBA can help in the identification of a breach, detecting which information was stolen and any other activities that the employee has been up to.

 Detection of compromised accounts

Many times employees end up downloading malware on their computers that may end up as a threat to the company data. The security system in place will then be able to detect this threat and weed it out.

 Prevention of Data attacks

The security system can easily detect hit and trial methods which are used by hackers in an attempt to access user accounts, and other force attempts can be blocked if timely detected.

Preventing unauthorised access

Some employees may have access to some very sensitive organisation data. With this security system in place, it is possible to detect whether an unauthorised person, other than the authorised employees is accessing the data.

Conclusion

The tools, techniques and processes associated with this top-notch cyber security tool are not meant to be used alone. They have been designed to work complementing the central cyber security systems of an organisation.

EUBA is a proactive approach towards securing organisation data making user behaviour more transparent. By doing so, organisations can strengthen their security strongholds and work towards mitigation of threats and data breaches before they cause grave damage. 

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