Why is B2B Ecommerce Security Important?

Here are some of the most common security threats B2B ecommerce businesses face:

Financial Fraud and Payment Scams

This includes credit card schemes like “carding” (testing stolen card numbers at your checkout).

Fraudsters often try to use stolen credit cards to place orders, leading to chargebacks that cost you money. They may also attempt fake refund requests or abuse promotional codes meant for legitimate business clients.

For B2B companies processing high-value orders, even a few successful fraud attempts can be devastating. Not to mention the financial toll investigating and disputing these fraudulent claims can have on your business.

Phishing Attacks

Phishing involves tricking people into divulging confidential information (like passwords and credit card numbers) by posing as a trustworthy entity.

For example, an attacker might send your customers an email that looks like it’s from your company, asking them to “verify their account” on a fake login page that records their password. Or, a scammer could target your employees with a fake ERP login alert to steal their credentials.

Compromised accounts on both ends (business owners and customers) can have devastating consequences, including:

• Unauthorized orders
• Loss of sensitive data or client information
• Damaged reputation (e.g., when clients receive emails that seem to be from your company but aren’t)

Malware and E-skimming

Malware is malicious software that can infect your website or the devices of people using your website.

One especially nasty tactic is e-skimming. Malicious hackers inject malware into your site that lurks on checkout pages and captures payment data in real time as customers enter it.

This can result in:

• Stolen customer payment data that creates liability and compliance issues
• Mandatory breach notifications and potential regulatory fines
• Website downtime while cleaning infected systems

SQL Injections and Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

These are types of web application attacks in which malicious actors manipulate your website’s code to gain access or cause damage.

In an SQL injection, an attacker inserts malicious SQL queries via form fields or URLs, potentially retrieving or tampering with data in your database (like customer information or order records).

Cross-site scripting (XSS) involves injecting malicious code into webpages that executes in users’ browsers, potentially compromising their data on the website.

B2B relationships are built on trust and reliability. If your customers’ data is compromised through SQL injections, XSS attacks, or data breaches, you risk losing not just individual accounts but entire corporate partnerships.

Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Attacks

In a DDoS attack, cybercriminals flood your website with an overwhelming amount of traffic (often via networks of infected computers called botnets). The goal is to crash your site or slow it to a crawl, making it impossible for real customers to access it.

Attackers sometimes use DDoS as a smokescreen while attempting other intrusions or for extortion (demanding money to stop the attack).

This downtime can damage long-term relationships and contracts for B2B companies where clients depend on your services for their operations.

Brute Force and Credential Stuffing

Brute force means systematically guessing usernames or passwords (often using automated scripts) until the attacker gets in.

Credential stuffing is when attackers take leaked username or password combinations from other breaches and try them on your site, betting that some people reuse their passwords.

In addition to dealing with potential unauthorized access to high-value business accounts, credential stuffing and brute force attacks can overwhelm your authentication systems and customer support teams.

When legitimate business users can’t access their accounts or receive support, it disrupts their procurement processes and creates friction in the buying experience.

Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) Attacks

In a MITM attack, someone intercepts the communication between a user and your website, eavesdropping or even altering the data in transit. This could happen if a customer is on an insecure Wi-Fi network or your site doesn’t enforce HTTPS.

For B2B ecommerce businesses, this can result in:

• Intercepted sensitive business communications and pricing data
• Compromised customer login credentials
• Loss of competitive advantage if proprietary information is stolen

Insider Threats

Not all threats come from the outside. Employees, contractors, or partners with access to your systems can also pose risks.

Sometimes it’s malicious; an unhappy employee might steal data or sabotage systems. Other times, it’s accidental, like an employee clicking a phishing link or misconfiguring something in a way that creates a security gap.

This is a stand-out issue in B2B businesses since employees often have access to sensitive customer data, pricing information, and business intelligence that competitors would find valuable.

To prevent this, implement good internal policies and the principle of least privilege (give each user the minimum access necessary to perform their role).