The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in the UK announced that the National Cyber Security Centre recently detected and warned 4,151 compromised online shops in Magecart attacks aimed at stealing customers’ payment details.
The discovery was made via the Active Cyber Defence Program after the stores were monitored as early as April 2020, with site owners and small and medium-sized businesses duly warned of their compromised platforms.
Those affected have been asked to ensure that Magento or any other software available to them is up-to-date to prevent attackers from taking power during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Sarah Lyons, NCSC Deputy Director for Business and Society, added: “We want small and medium-sized online retailers to know how to prevent their sites from being exploited by opportunistic cybercriminals over the peak shopping period. It’s important to keep websites as secure as possible and I would urge all business owners to follow our guidance and make sure their software is up to date.”
Online shoppers are advised to make their purchases only in trusted stores, to use credit cards for online payments and finally to pay closer attention to emails or text messages containing offers that are too good to be true.