Today In Data: The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year (For Cybercrime)

A tidal wave  of consumers hit the stores (online and real world) for the kick-off weekend of the holiday shopping season, trying to snap up the deals and savings. But shoppers aren’t the only ones who are busy: It’s also a busy time of year for fraudsters, who hope to capitalize on busy systems and perhaps inexperienced workers. That means the challenge for the season, and beyond, is finding ways to give customers what they want, without making the same offer to those who would defraud them.

Data:

100 million: The amount stolen recently from nine public firms in recent business email compromise schemes.

90 percent: Share of professionals who name untrained staff as their firm’s biggest cybersecurity risk.

82 percent: Share of customers who have paid with gas apps and would like those apps to allow them to pay for C-store items.

61 percent: Share of consumers polled by PYMNTS that made a Black Friday purchase.

29 percent: Consumers polled by PYMNTS who report never shopping on Black Friday.