Hackers Use Google Tag Manager to Steal Credit Card Numbers

In recent instances of cybercrime, hackers have been able to exploit Google Tag Manager to inject malicious code into e-commerce websites, specifically those that use the Magento platform. This is a very sophisticated way cybercriminals are stealing the credit card details of customers during the checkout.

Understanding the Threat

What is Google Tag Manager?

Google Tag Manager is one of the free tools that allow webmasters to manage and control marketing tags without actually going to the website code. It makes adding and updating tags for analytics and advertising very simple.

How Do the Hackers Have Exploiting This GTM?

Attacks inject malicious scripts into GTM containers used by spoofed-compromised websites. With scripts often being obscured to do so, these sometimes act as credit card skimmers. When users enter their payment information during checkout, the code intercepts, copies, and transfers it through email heading to the servers controlled by the attacker. (Search Engine Journal)

Case Study: Magento-Based Attacks

Security researchers have caught Magento-based e-commerce sites compromised via GTM in several instances. Here, malicious code was introduced into the database of the site masquerading as legitimate GTM or Google Analytics scripts.  This tactic makes detection challenging, as the scripts appear authentic to standard security tools. (rhisac.org)

One notable campaign involved at least six websites infected with a specific GTM container ID. The malicious script collected sensitive data entered by users during the checkout process and transmitted it to a remote server controlled by the attackers. Additionally, a hidden PHP backdoor was discovered in the site’s media directory, granting persistent access to the attackers. (The Hacker News)

Implications for E-Commerce Businesses

These attacks have severe consequences for online retailers:

• Financial Loss: Chargebacks and fraud-related costs may impact a business.
• Reputational Loss: Customers lose trust in compromised sites that can harm sales.
• Legal and Compliance Issues: Failure to protect customer data may subject businesses to lawsuits and fines under regulations like PCI DSS.

Protecting Your Website

In order to protect your e-commerce site against such attacks, here are ways you can go about it:

• Audit Your GTM Containers: Make sure every tag and script within your GTM containers is legitimate and necessary.
• Conduct Full-Sweep Malware Checks: Regularly scan a website for malware, backdoors, and unauthorized code injection.
• Patch Up Your Software: Use updated content management systems, plugins, and extensions.
• Check Your Traffic Profile: Look out for any unusual spikes in traffic or data being sent to any unknown servers.
• Use Web Application Firewalls: Setting WAF up will help the identification and prevention of malicious activity into the website.

Final Words 

In conclusion, this situation really highlights the need for more security by e-commerce businesses not only by highlighting how easy it is to get into your e-commerce site through Google Tag Manager but also highlighting other important things that are mandatory for effective protection, which are regular audits, timely updates, and monitoring, with the help of that your business and your customers too will be secure from these high-level attacks.

Cotask IT Solutions is dedicated to assisting businesses in fortifying their online platforms against the emerging cyberthreats. Let’s talk and see how we can secure your digital assets! 

FAQs

Q1: How can I detect if someone has done data tampering to my GTM container?

A1: Periodically review and conduct audits on the tags and scripts that exist within your GTM container. Search for any undesired or suspicious lines of code, with particular attention being paid to obscured or encrypted scripts.

Q2: What should I do at the time if I discover that my GTM container has malicious scripts?

A2: Immediately delete the suspicious tags, do a full-fledged security scan for the website, and seek help from cybersecurity experts to analyze and clean the breach.

Q3: How do customers protect themselves while shopping online?

A3: Customers have to ensure that they deal only with reputable websites, check that the URL has HTTPS, and consider using virtual credit cards or payment services with added layers of security.

Q4: Can other platforms, besides Magento, risk this kind of attack?

A4: While most of the recent attacks had targeted only Magento-based sites, any platform using GTM may be targeted without appropriate securing.

Q5: How frequent should I perform security audits on my web?

A5: The frequency at which you should carry out security audits is generally recommended to be on a quarterly basis or as frequently as bi-annually due to major changes made to your site code or the actual structure of your website.