Website security: Must-have software for a secure website
You’re a busy business owner, and you’ve got a lot on your plate. However, you must be careful not to let important tasks fall by the wayside. One of the most critical steps you should take as a travel business owner is to make sure your website is secure. An insecure website has the potential to wreak havoc on your travel business, including substantial reputational damage and revenue loss. In this article, we share some of the ways you can secure your website against cybercriminals.
Cybercrime is on the rise
Global cybercrime is predicted to cost a staggering $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. Cyberattacks come in various forms, including but not limited to:
Data breaches, where cybercriminals steal sensitive customer information, such as personal details, passport numbers and card information. Not only do data breaches damage trust with your customers and the reputation you’ve worked hard to build, they’re also incredibly expensive. For example, research by IBM Security revealed that the average cost of a data breach in the UK is now £3.2 million.
Phishing and social engineering attacks, where cybercriminals use deceptive emails, messages or websites to trick travellers into revealing sensitive information. Phishing attacks are on the rise, with 79% of businesses having experienced a phishing attack in the last 12 months.
Payment fraud, where cybercriminals use stolen card information to make unauthorised bookings or exploit payment system vulnerabilities. Over a third of merchants experience first-party card fraud globally.
Cybercriminals are targeting the travel industry
The travel industry is particularly vulnerable to cybercrime, ranking third in cyberattack incidents. Unfortunately, cyberattacks aren't uncommon for travellers and travel providers. A recent survey found that 7% of travellers have experienced cybercrime incidents during their trips.
A common fraud method cybercriminals use when targeting the travel industry is carding attacks. This involves bots attempting multiple simultaneous attempts to authorise stolen credit card credentials, exploiting vulnerabilities rapidly and at scale. Alarmingly, carding attacks have increased by 161% between 2021 and 2022.
How to increase website security and protect your travel business
As a travel business owner, you are responsible for protecting your customers’ data when they use your services. Not only does this shield them from bad actors, but it also safeguards your company’s finances and reputation.
Let’s explore the steps you can take to make your website secure:
CAPTCHA
CAPTCHA, which stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart, is a form of challenge-response authentication.
How CAPTCHA works
The test consists of two parts: a randomly generated sequence of numbers and/or letters that appear as a distorted image and a text box. To prove the user is human, they type the characters they see in the image into the text box. CAPTCHAs may also ask you to click the squares of an image to identify particular elements, such as a bus, crossing or bike.
CAPTCHAs are an effective way to prevent bots from performing automated tasks for malicious purposes, including brute-force login attempts, data scraping and spamming. One of the most commonly used CAPTCHA solutions by businesses globally is reCAPTCHA, a free Google service that protects websites from spam and abuse.
Bot management systems
An important step in the fight against bots is investing in bot management systems, like Cloudflare’s bot management solution. Many bots use headless browsers, a browser without a user interface, to appear like they are using a web browser to access your website. This allows them to mimic human behaviour with the goal of evading detection.
Various types of bot management systems are available, including behavioural biometrics-based systems, client and server-side fingerprinting systems and machine learning-powered systems. However, many bot management solutions combine several detection and protection methods.
How bot management systems work
Behavioural biometrics-based systems analyse user interactions, such as keystrokes, mouse movements and scrolling patterns to identify anomalies that may indicate bots.
Client-side and server-side browser fingerprinting software combines information from the user’s browser (client-side) and the web server (server-side) to create a ‘fingerprint’—a kind of profile made up of information about a user’s browser and device configuration. Fingerprinting software looks at various data points, like IP addresses, network latency, browser headers and request timings, making it significantly harder for bots to mimic legitimate fingerprints.
Machine learning-powered bot detection involves using machine learning algorithms to identify and block bot attacks, including request fingerprints, behavioural signals, global trends, latency, inactivity periods and many more.
Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption
TLS encryption (formerly known as SSL) scrambles data transmitted between your website and users, making it difficult for hackers to steal sensitive information. To install a TLS certificate, contact your web host provider and request to purchase one, and they will guide you through the process. Once the TLS certificate is installed, your website will load securely via HTTPS.
The bottom line
Cybercrime is a growing concern among business owners. While cybercriminals are getting more sophisticated in their methods, there are steps you can take to repel their attacks. CAPTCHA, bot management systems and machine learning powered systems are just some of the ways you can secure your website to make sure your customers are protected from bad actors.
