Protect Your Customers to Protect Your Brand

13 Dec 2022

Brand protection is the process of protecting intellectual property of brands. The most common steps brands think of, and take are:

• Trademarking your brand

• Claiming your brand

• Protecting your copyright

• Branding your domain

• Preventing domain hijacking

• Keeping out hackers

• Making sure you rank in search results for your brand

However, to create a bulletproof brand protection strategy, don’t forget to act on guidance to protect your brand from being exploited online and to protect your customers from a range of cyber-enabled crimes, including fraud.

Specific guidance is available by the NCSC and is suitable for any organisation with an online presence, but it's particularly suited to those with eCommerce stores and online customer accounts or are at risk of being spoofed by criminals seeking to exploit your brand's reputation.

Security – Thinking beyond the use of passwords

Whilst passwords remain the default method of authentication for a huge range of online services and transactions, both at work and home, accounts authenticated by password alone are extremely vulnerable to attack. More recently, password use has risen by the ever-increasing number of accounts users are expected to manage. Users will decide to re-use the same password across different services and systems using basic and extremely predictable password creation strategies, or just writing passwords down where they can be easily found.

Password authentication is still a cheap, easy to implement method, and understood by users. Businesses can feel a sense of nervousness from adopting alternative authentication methods, with the potential that it could cause unwelcome user journeys or disruptive to online transactions.

Cyber attackers will use a variety of techniques to discover passwords, especially well-known coping strategies, usually exploiting a range of social and technical vulnerabilities. The NCSC introduced new authentication methods guidance which sets out alternative models for authentication, including example scenarios that explain when these alternatives might be suitable. The guidance also highlights the pros and cons of:

 Two-step verification (2SV)

• OAuth

• FIDO2,

• Magic links

• One-time passwords,

It also includes a summary of when it is appropriate to apply each method and when it isn’t, and the guidance includes specific examples from the retail sectors to manage online accounts. The informative guidance explains how you should consider both the security and usability of each method, and most importantly the profile of your customer base.

Remember that adding any of the methods described will significantly increase the security of your customer accounts. For this specific advice, visit the NCSC website:

• 'Authentication methods: choosing the right type' helps organisations to select an appropriate authentication method to provide security that goes 'beyond passwords'.

• 'Takedown: removing malicious content to protect your brand' introduces methods you can use to protect your online brand (and by extension, your customers or users)

Takedown guidance

In addition to protecting your customers users' accounts, you may also want to consider other measures that help protect your brand from being exploited. If you own or manage a brand, there is always risk that it could be exploited online.

This can include fake reviews or endorsements, false representations of your products or services, or cyber criminals using your brand in phishing or malware to make their campaigns look and sound credible.

The new NCSC Takedown guidance covers:

• How your own organisation can submit a takedown request

• What you should consider when choosing a takedown provider (who can submit the request on your behalf) Whichever method you choose, removing malicious websites that are exploiting your reputation to defraud customers are key to protecting your brand.

Protect your business with Insurance

According to the recent Cyber Security Breaches Survey, under half of businesses (43%) have taken out some form of cyber insurance. Most standard property and liability policies have exclusions for cybercrime. This means it is vital for businesses to consider a standalone cyber-liability policy. TH March has been providing insurance for the jewellery sector for 135 years. While the nature of criminal threats has changed during that time, we’ve adapted to stay ahead and ensure jewellers get the protection they need.

We have access to specialised insurers who can provide jewellers with expert advice, guidance, and security strategies. This cover can include protection against a range of threats, including extortion, corporate ID theft and phishing. Should an attack occur, the business then receives cover to respond to the issue, including any legal or regulatory fees, as well as crisis communication and business interruption cover.

With growing numbers of jewellers falling victim to these crimes, can you afford to take the risk of not protecting your business. 

Source: SecurityWise