Apple Leads the Way in Retail Cybersecurity

According to research from online password manager, LastPass, Apple is the most secure online store in the US.

The online system, in collaboration with LogMeIn, judged US-based retailers on 17 ranking factors regarding account, password and website security features to create its ‘Online Retail Naughty and Nice List’.

Coming in at top of the ‘Nice List’ was Apple, followed by Best Buy, The Home Depot and Amazon, while the ‘Naughty List’ was reportedly dominated by the likes of Wayfair, Walmart, eBay, Macy’s and Costco.

According to LastPass, only two of the top 10 retailers used two-factor authentication for customers (Apple and Amazon), while five of the top e-tailers used social media logins, which the company says compromises consumer data.

Image Credit: LastPass

LastPass says that all sites were ranked highly for securing user sessions on their sites with an SSL certificate, denoting Google’s preferred HTTPS in the search bar, rather than HTTP.

Looking more specifically at the retailers ranked by LastPass, it’s not surprising to see Apple sitting pretty as number one, with the tech-company’s CEO, Tim Cook being outspoken in the Silicon Valley community about privacy. Wayfair’s lower ranking, however, could be a sign of growing pains, as the company is currently going through a period of growth.

According to Adobe, online sales in the US are set to jump by 14.8 percent to a total of $124.1 billion this year.

Cyber Monday and Thanksgiving Day sales are expected to be key drivers of this growth, while an extra calendar day between late November and Christmas Day is expected to give retailers a $284 million boost in sales. According to Adobe, there will be more calendar days over this year’s holiday trade period that will set new records, with 36 days predicted to surpass $2 billion in sales, compared to only 22 days in 2017.

However, while the holiday period is typically fruitful for retailers, it also comes with the risk of higher rates of fraud, with Forter claiming fraud attacks on retailers increased by 13 percent over the 2017 festive period. This increase in attacks has been attributed to data breaches and identity theft, as well as account takeovers, phishing attacks and fraudulent chargebacks.

Retailers are urged to ensure they secure their online shopping experiences, with LastPass claiming “the more requirements, the better”.

“Security experts agree that the longer and more complicated the password, the more secure your account. Eight out of the 10 e-retailers allow passwords up to 20 characters,” the company said.

LastPass also warns consumers to avoid using the same passwords for multiple sites and to steer clear of social media login options.

Never miss our best stories. Sign up for Power Retail’s free weekly newsletter and find our daily stories on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.