The retail technology industry, or RetailTech for short, has completely changed how we shop, making everything from point-of-sale (POS) systems to inventory management and e-commerce platforms faster, smarter, and more seamless. Unfortunately, the technology advancements that we love as consumers, and that retailers expect from technology providers, also make things easier for cybercriminals who would love to turn online platforms into their personal ATMs. 

So, how can RetailTech companies balance progress with protection? In this blog, we’ll dig into practical software security strategies for RetailTech companies; what they can do to protect themselves and their customers, while also staying focused on the revenue generating aspects of their business. We’ll also look at how application security can help keep RetailTech companies from becoming the next cautionary tale.

Why Software Security Matters in RetailTech

Sure, software security isn’t as exciting as launching a new customer loyalty app or optimizing the checkout flow, but let’s face it, no amount of innovation matters if hackers steal your customer data or crash your website during peak holiday shopping season. Here’s what makes RetailTech particularly susceptible to data breaches and other cyber incidents, and why it matters:

1. Customer Data is Your Biggest Asset (and a Huge Liability)

Retail is all about customer experience, until you lose their credit card details. Then, it’s all about damage control. A single breach can expose millions of payment records, leading to lawsuits, regulatory fines, and customers vowing to never shop with you again. Protecting customer data isn’t optional; it’s survival.

2. Compliance Is Essential

RetailTech companies with payment processing are required to adhere to strict security regulations, including PCI DSS, GDPR, and CCPA. Violating these can lead to massive fines, and even worse in many cases, a PR nightmare that erodes customer trust and causes lasting damage.

3. POS and E-Commerce Platforms are Prime Targets

Point-of-sale (POS) systems and e-commerce platforms are hacker goldmines. Attackers love to exploit outdated software, third-party integrations, and weak authentication to siphon off customer data.

4. Reputation is Hard to Rebuild

Customers don’t easily forget when their information gets compromised. A security breach can shatter trust, tank sales, and turn your brand into a case study in what not to do. Once your name is synonymous with a breach of any kind, it’s difficult to win customers back.

5. Supply Chains Are Only as Strong as the Weakest Link

RetailTech companies rely on an ecosystem of suppliers, vendors, and logistics providers. If one of them has weak security, your entire operation is at risk. Attackers don’t need to hit your applications directly, they can sneak in through an unsecured vendor, just like that one guest who always shows up to your party uninvited and eats all the good snacks.

Best Practices for RetailTech Security

Alright, enough doom and gloom. Let’s talk about practical things RetailTech companies can do to protect themselves. Here’s what works to protect company systems, customers, and reputations:

1. Build Security Into the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)

Security needs to be baked into the development process, not slapped on like a Band-Aid after launch. That means establishing secure coding practices, regular code reviews, and ongoing vulnerability testing.

2. Encrypt Like Your Business Depends on It (Because It Does)

If your data isn’t encrypted, it might as well be gift-wrapped for hackers. Encrypt sensitive data both at rest and in transit using strong encryption standards like AES-256. That way, even if an attacker gets in, what they find will be unreadable, rather than a nicely identifiable list of customer credit card numbers.

3. Tighten Up Access Control

Use role-based access controls (RBAC), multi-factor authentication (MFA), and the principle of least privilege (POLP) to limit access to systems and information.

4. Regularly Test for Vulnerabilities and Update Software

Software vulnerabilities are like open doors for attackers, and they can appear anytime, even if your code doesn’t change. That’s because new vulnerabilities are discovered all the time, and when they are, it’s essential to know whether they affect you or not, and if they do, to fix them before they can be exploited. 

To identify weaknesses before an attacker does, conduct regular testing and vulnerability scans. Find an application security platform that lets you tailor notifications so in a never-ending sea of potential issues, you can be notified of, and stay focused on, the issues that affect you and that are the highest risk for your business. Then patch software as needed, using tools like SOOS to save time by grouping related issues and providing easier update paths.

5. Vet Your Vendors (Because Their Security Is Your Security)

Third-party services power much of RetailTech, from payment gateways to logistics software. If one of them gets breached, so do you. To minimize risk, make sure every vendor you work with follows strong security practices. Require SBOMs from third-parties and scan them for known vulnerabilities, monitor third-party integrations, and use Software Composition Analysis (SCA) tools to keep tabs on vulnerabilities in open-source components. 

How Application Security Fits into RetailTech’s Defense Strategy

RetailTech runs on software; POS systems, inventory management tools, mobile apps, e-commerce platforms, you name it. If that software isn’t secure, everything else crumbles. Here’s how application security helps RetailTech companies create a strong foundation:

• Software Composition Analysis, Static Application Security Testing (SAST) and Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST): Identify vulnerabilities in your code before attackers do. SCA and SAST scan code before it’s committed, while DAST scans applications as they run to simulate real-world attacks and find issues before they can be compromised.
• Container Security: Misconfigured containers are like an open invitation to hackers, and are an increasingly important part of application security. A misconfigured container occurs when a containerized application has incorrect settings or configurations, potentially exposing vulnerabilities by granting excessive permissions, leaving sensitive ports open, using outdated images with known vulnerabilities, or allowing unauthorized access to host system resources. Container security is an essential part of application security that differs from other testing tools. It entails scanning a container image for known vulnerabilities before deploying it, restricting access to sensitive data within a container, and monitoring container activity for suspicious behavior. To ensure containers are protected from cyberattacks, container security needs to be implemented throughout the container lifecycle, from image creation to runtime execution.
• API Security: Many RetailTech platforms rely on APIs to connect different services. Unsecured APIs are an open door for hackers, so secure authentication and proper access controls are a must, as is web and API testing using DAST tools. DAST tests API security by simulating real-world attacks against a live API, essentially mimicking how someone would try to exploit the API from the outside in; this allows for the detection of security flaws that might not be apparent through other testing methods like static code analysis (SAST) and identifies potential vulnerabilities without requiring access to the underlying source code.

Take Security from Daunting to Doable

RetailTech companies have enough to manage without manually hunting for security flaws. That’s where SOOS comes in. We make it easier to integrate software security into your development process without adding extra headaches. With SOOS, you get the ideal balance of comprehensiveness, ease-of-use, and configurability, so you catch issues other tools can’t, with less work to set-up, use, and maintain the application security platform. Key aspects of SOOS’s platform include:

1. Unlimited, Automated Vulnerability Scanning

SOOS continuously scans your codebase and dependencies for known vulnerabilities, ensuring you catch security flaws early and often, before attackers will. 

2. Comprehensive Security for Open Source Components

Your retail tech stack includes open source libraries: SOOS helps ensure they’re not full of known exploits. SOOS’s patented deep-tree scanning for all major programming languages means you can scan every component of every build and be confident there are no missed issues, unlike with other tools that don’t go as deep in your application’s dependency tree.

3. Integration with Your DevSecOps Workflow

Security should be seamless, not a roadblock. SOOS works within your existing CI/CD pipeline and developer tools like Issue Management software to ensure your developers can fix issues within their current workflows. A flexible command line interface (CLI) allows for a high level of customization and adaptability in how SOOS is set up, allowing you to set up and execute multiple different rules in one simple command.

4. Easy, Configurable License Compliance and Monitoring

Avoid legal nightmares by ensuring your open source components don’t come with unwanted obligations or conflicts with other software. Learn more about open source software license analysis, governance, and management best practices here.

5. Risk Prioritization to Reduce Noise

Cut through the noise and focus on fixing the issues that matter most to your business, and that violate your acceptable level of risk. Because the more software you have, the more likely it is there will be outdated components that don’t present a significant risk. Just as you want to know what needs immediate attention, you also want to know what doesn’t need attention so your team can stay focused on delivering for your customers.

6. Compliance Without the Headaches

SOOS simplifies compliance with automated reporting that aligns with industry standards like PCI DSS, GDPR, SOC 2, and state cybersecurity laws. Real-time security assessments, automated compliance reports, and detailed audit logs with historical security snapshots ensure you can stop worrying about audits, easily demonstrate the necessary compliance, and focus on actually running your business.

7. Unified Platform and Reporting to Bring Teams Together

Monitor, take action on, and report on all Application Security tools (SCA, DAST, Containers, SAST, and SBOMs) via one pipeline-integrated hub, with a single dashboard and optional API access for seamless integration into your environment.

8. Complete Software Supply Chain Security

Easily assess the security practices of external vendors and libraries used in your software development to prevent introducing new vulnerabilities, and continuously scan first- and third-party software for newly discovered vulnerabilities. Learn more about our SBOM Manager.

9. A Scalable and Cost-Effective Way to Protect Your Software

SOOS offers flat-rate pricing based on team size with unlimited scanning for all, allowing RetailTech companies to scan as often as needed without unexpected costs. This ensures security efforts can scale with business growth and reduces mental burden on teams as they can set up scans to run automatically without having to think about them.

Final Thoughts: Make It Harder for Hackers

RetailTech is moving fast, and so are cyber threats, but security doesn’t have to be a constant source of panic. The reality is that if you make your system hard to hack, cybercriminals will most likely look for easier targets. 

Doing that involves taking a proactive approach to software security, which includes integrating security into development, properly encrypting data, vetting third-parties, and choosing application security tools that are both comprehensive and easy to use, so they actually get used. By taking these steps, you can protect your business, your customers, and your peace of mind.
Want to learn more about how SOOS can help keep your RetailTech secure? Contact us or start a free trial to see for yourself how easy SOOS is to use.