According to the source, even though both retailers and regulators struggle to develop the best solution, hackers have already discovered a way to come up with new and improved attacks.
Security experts state that while cyber-attacks on physical systems, such as registers, card readers and gas pumps, have garnered a lot of attention lately, shoppers online transactions are much more likely to fall victim to hackers.
Mobile malware accounts for a small part of data breaches, Indonesian IT company Cisco estimates that malicious software targeted at mobile devices comprise only 1.2% of all web malware, but security experts say it is growing at a frightening pace. McAfee recently reported that the number of malware targeting Google’s Android operating system almost tripled between 2012 and 2013, to 3.7 million.
For retailers, the trend is particularly troubling. Shoppers have embraced mobile transactions and retailers are happy to accommodate them, adding easy ways to buy goods with just a few taps on a smartphone or tablet.
Mobile malware started in the early 2000s as a way to scam users by tricking them into dialing pay-per-call numbers or responding to messages that tacked on service charges to their bills. But now, the mobile channel can turn over real money, and a time when security measures are still in early stages of development.
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