Identity Theft in the Digital Era: How Supply and Demand Fuel Its Growth

With a global population of around 8 billion, around 34% of people worldwide make use of online shopping for their retail needs. From purchasing a new air fryer for the kitchen to a multipack of socks, you’re able to buy pretty much anything online and have it delivered to your door within days - or even hours!

While the growth of digital footprints is noticeable, there has been an insidious rise in identity theft. With supply and demand increasing, so to are the vulnerabilities for shoppers online. Cybersecurity is on the lips of many businesses nowadays because it’s a line of defense that cannot be overlooked.

How is identity theft evolving in the digital era? How are businesses able to adapt to supply and demand growth while protecting the company, its employees, and customers? This guide will look at how online shopping has contributed to increasing demands and how businesses are able to minimize the risk of identity theft.

The rise of online shopping is only set to exceed recent statistics, with expected figures of 3.9 billion people using the internet to shop in the next five years. 

Table of contents

• Identity theft has reached an all-time high
• The popularity of online shoppers versus supply and demand
• How to minimize the risk of identity theft to protect your customers
  • Identity risk management software
  • Encryption of data
  • Strong password policies and limitations on access control
  • Regular security audits
  • Credit monitoring
  • Customer and employee education 
  • Secure data disposal

Identity theft has reached an all-time high

Identity theft has reached an all-time high with more than 1 in 5 Americans reporting being the victim of identity theft. From financial to employment theft, the risks of identity theft are present not just here in the US but globally too.

With the availability of data, many fraudsters are using the vulnerabilities in systems and the holders of such data themselves to scam and steal. From applying for bank accounts to buying goods and services in volume, all of which do so anonymously behind the false identity of someone else.

The popularity of online shoppers versus supply and demand

With online shopping becoming more popular as the years go by, it’s heavily influenced by supply and demand. Customers have a higher demand for convenience than they ever did before. They actively look for price comparisons and judge companies based on the quality of their goods and services, as well as the customer experience.

A few ways in which online shopping compliments supply and demand include:

• Convenience - Online shoppers are able to shop anytime, anywhere, and are able to purchase just about anything they need or want.
• Product variety - The online domain has a lot more product variety than what is found in a customer’s local shopping district.
• Price comparison - With online shopping, you are easily able to make price comparisons without having to physically trek from one store to another.
• Delivery speed and options - Deliveries are helping with increased supply and demand due to same-day deliveries, courier deliveries, and more.
• Personalized shopping experiences - With the customer experience being an important contributor to business success, online shopping enables a more personalized approach.

As long as they do so correctly, retailers are able to supply the demands with efficiency through online platforms and technology that’s capable of making it happen.

As more products and services become readily available, so too does the rise in online shoppers. Thus creating a continuous positive loop between supply and demand. 

How to minimize the risk of identity theft to protect your customers

While all of the above is beneficial for the modern shopper and business owner, the rising risk of identity theft needs to be addressed. Businesses need to be proactive in their efforts not only to protect their staff but also their customers from identity theft. How are they able to do that you ask?

Identity risk management software

Online businesses face a bigger risk of identity theft due to the vulnerabilities of the internet and its users. While fraud can’t be stamped out completely, it is helped with the use of identity risk management software.

Simplifying your fraud management as a company will help you focus on providing that security for you and your customers, as well as continuing the company’s growth. 

Having identity risk management in place is useful for many reasons, whether that’s to adhere to compliance and regulations, to protect assets, and to create more trust with your customers.

With this software, it helps businesses and those responsible for managing company security, to mitigate the risks that come with identity theft. Ultimately, the fewer experiences of identity theft for any company or its customers are for the better.

Encryption of data

Encrypting your company data is a must-do when operating an online business. Your customer’s data is easily accessible if the hackers are incentivized enough to exploit your company’s vulnerabilities. However, even if they do get in, encryption is a great deterrent to stop any further damage being done.

When encrypting data, you should be encrypting everything that your customer has willingly provided to you for storing and managing. From credit card numbers to home addresses, all this confidential information should be encrypted, should it fall into the wrong hands.

By encrypting your data, it helps to claw back some of that loyalty and trust that is often lost when any form of cyberattack occurs. 

Strong password policies and limitations on access control

Even with the threat of identity fraud and cyber attacks in today’s digital era, many users are still using the same passwords for all their logins. According to one report, a staggering 78% use the same password across multiple accounts online.

The likelihood of your employees doing the same thing is high, which is why you want to encourage your employees with a strong password policy. This will help to remind them to change their passwords regularly and to have a different password for each login they have.

It’s worth mitigating the risks of identity and data theft by having limitations on access control. Not every employee needs to have access to all of the customer and business data available. Some might not need any of it and limiting who has access to what will hopefully minimize the chances of employees falling victim to identity theft.

Regular security audits

With a growing business, it’s hard to keep track of everything going on within the business and that includes security vulnerabilities. Just like a business would have a financial audit, it’s also worth looking at the option of a security audit.

This is a great way of conducting regular checks on your company’s security processes, particularly when it comes to the protection of your customer’s confidential data.

Being able to identify potential vulnerabilities before they are exploited is a preventative measure that will help ensure identity theft is kept to a minimum.

Credit monitoring

If there’s any way to assist your customers in making sure their online shopping and activity aren’t exploited, then it’s the responsibility of the business to do what is possible.

Credit monitoring is a great form of service that you could deliver to your customers to help them track their credit reports for any suspicious activity. When you have customers who are actively spending their money through your business, these credit monitoring services are helpful to ensure they’re the ones making the payments.

Customer and employee education 

On the subject of helping out your customers with their online activities, it’s worth providing them with useful information and education on staying safe while shopping on the internet. There are numerous methods used when it comes to identity theft that are worth looking out for, as well as the signs of identity theft. These include:

• Calls from debt collectors
• Sudden drop in your credit score
• New credit cards or loans in your name
• Unusual transactions in your account

Educating your customers on best practices to protect their personal information is helpful. Not only that but the same education and training should be provided to your employees too. After all, they’re responsible too for holding company information and as such need to be educated on best practices as well.

Secure data disposal

Finally, it’s important that your data disposal is secure to avoid any opportunity for identity theft to occur. This is a point that you should encourage your customers and employees to do with the documents and data they handle.

Properly disposing of any physical documents or digital documents will help ensure they’re not discovered by the wrong individuals. Shred physical files and be sure to delete digital files permanently.

Reduce the negative impact of identity theft on your business in 2025

In order to maintain your success with supply and demand to your customers, being proactive with identity theft and other cybercrime is key. From securing your data with regular security audits to educating your customers on how to avoid falling into the traps, it’s all vital for your business in the digital era.

Author Bio: Natalie Griffiths (LinkedIn)

Natalie is a freelance writer with five years of experience in copywriting for businesses, spanning many industries.