Digital marketing is one of the most vital aspects of running a successful business, but it also carries significant cybersecurity concerns that we must address. Without proper precautions, your website could get hacked. An attack can also leak your customer data to the public, causing irreparable damage to your brand’s reputation and image. This article lists the top five digital marketing cybersecurity concerns, according to Connectwise cybersecurity firm.
- Password Attacks and Attacks in Content Marketing
Password attacks refer to users taking advantage of any content you’ve published that they can access. Example: Suppose you have a document containing important information, such as your business plan or marketing strategies. In that case, anyone with access to that document will attempt to use your passwords if they think it might be helpful. They might also attempt brute force attacks, which involve trying every possible combination of passwords until they guess yours correctly.
- Phishing and Email Marketing Scams
Phishing scams and phishing emails are becoming more sophisticated, common, and dangerous. One of the significant dangers of phishing is malware — a keylogger or some other kind of trojan that can record everything you type. So if you’re doing any internet marketing—particularly search engine optimization or pay-per-click campaigns—it’s essential to have cyber security SOC tools that detect and block these attacks.
- Malware and Remote Access to CRM
The majority of cybersecurity attacks on businesses happen through malware—the use of malicious software. Malware is a tool to gain access to sensitive data or remote access to CRM, such as customer relationship management. For example, a hacker can find out where your customers live and work if they can access CRM data. Then they can conduct massive spear-phishing campaigns (pre-targeted emails with embedded links) based on those details.
- Ransomware in eCommerce
Ransomware is malware that holds data or computer systems hostage by locking it until the owner pays a ransom. Ransomware often infects businesses as employees click on compromised links, download attachments from email, or open infected files. An example of ransomware was CryptoLocker, which encrypted files and held them for ransom until users made payments to recover their access. While ransomware can be devastating for an eCommerce business, there are several things you can do to prevent it—and even get your data back if you fall victim to it.
- Fraud in Social Media Marketing
With fake news and false accounts being used to sway public opinion, social media is an attractive target for fraudsters. They can dupe advertisers into believing they’re reaching a specific audience based on demographics or geography when in reality, they’re exposing their brand to more harmful activity.
On Facebook and Twitter, most of these malicious campaigns take place via unsolicited DM (direct message) schemes on Twitter and impersonation scams on Facebook. The content of these attacks ranges from ad click fraud to identity theft: a social engineering attack is known as smishing, while phishing relates more to email exploits.
Despite these concerns, digital marketing is a powerful way to reach out to customers and build an audience. Just be sure you keep these concerns in mind when developing your strategy and make sure you have safeguards against cyberattacks.
