Timing Trends of Credit Master Damage

A credit master is a criminal method that tries to determine the credit number by abusing the flow of registering a credit card number such as an e-commerce cart. In this article, we will explain the timing trend of damage based on GMO Payment Gateway (GMO-PG) data.

1. Credit master damage that occurs on holidays and late at night

We will explain in detail using GMO-PG data that the timing of credit master attacks is often on holidays and late at night, and e-commerce businesses should be especially careful during long holidays.

For more information about Credit Master, please refer to the following page.
"What you need to know about credit master damage and countermeasures to prevent your company's e-commerce site from being abused"

2. Credit master attacks as seen in GMO-PG data

The graph below is a summary of the number of occurrences that we actually believe to be credit master attacks on merchants.

By day of the week, the rate of credit master damage tends to be higher on Saturdays and Sundays at 122% compared to weekdays. The reason why Mondays have a higher ratio than other weekdays is because there tend to be more attacks on Sunday nights.

By time of day, the damage rate between 11 p.m. and 6 p.m. is very high.

▼ (1) Credit Master Damage Occurrence Rate by Day of the Week (Period: April-July 2023 / Unit: %)

▼ (2) Credit Master Damage Occurrence Rate by Time of Period (Period: April-July 2023 / Unit: %)

3. Why are credit masters so common on holidays and late at night?

Credit master damage often occurs on holidays and late at night because attackers believe that the security system of e-commerce operators will be weakened and take advantage of the gap to gain unauthorized access. In addition, attacks on e-commerce sites tend to be delayed and damage increased by being attacked during times when traffic is low.

Examples of when e-commerce businesses should be aware of credit master attacks are as follows.

・Holidays, late at night
・Long holidays (summer vacation, Golden Week, Silver Week, year-end and New Year holidays, etc.)
・Busy seasons such as sales and news coverage

In this way, attackers tend to aim for the timing when the security posture is expected to weaken, so please be vigilant against credit masters when you are busy as well as during holidays.

4. Preventive measures for credit master damage

GMO-PG has prepared a variety of measures to protect your e-commerce site in response to changes in criminal methods. As a countermeasure against credit masters, we provide a "mass attack blocking service" that blocks automatic and repeated authorization requests. Please also check the following page.

"What you need to know about credit master damage and countermeasures to prevent your company's e-commerce site from being abused"

"Information on mass attack blocking services"

5. Conclusion

For e-commerce sites, holidays and late nights are times when the risk of cyberattacks increases. In addition, you need to be careful about the timing of sales and when a shop or company suddenly becomes a hot topic, as it is easy for attackers to judge that security is weak.

GMO-PG has prepared a number of measures to protect the e-commerce sites of merchants in response to changes in criminal methods. If you have any concerns about security measures, please feel free to contact us as we will provide you with suggestions tailored to your company's situation.

For our member stores, the person in charge will explain the details, so please contact us below or to our sales representative.

For merchants using → GMO PG Multi-Payment Service
For inquiries about "Credit Master Measures (Mass Attack Blocking Service)", please use the following URL.

https://contact.gmo-pg.com/m?f=791