Cyber Threats to Consumers and Other Risks in the Field of E-commerce Security

The acceleration of digitalization has been driven by the strong stimulus of the digital revolution announced by the European Union, social and economic conditions, and the Covid-19 pandemic. In this context, e-commerce in Hungary grew by nearly 35% in 2019 and 2020. However, the acceleration of digitalization has also been accompanied by an increase in risks. In the European Union, the NIS 2 Directive, published in December 2022, entered into force on 16 January 2023. Member states have 21 months from the entry into force of the NIS 2 Directive to transpose its provisions into national law, with a final deadline of October 2024. The NIS 2 Directive defines the actors in critical sectors and other critical sectors, which include digital service providers, online marketplace providers, online search engine providers and social media platform providers. The NIS 2 Directive sets out a common cybersecurity regulatory framework aimed at enhancing the level of cybersecurity in the European Union. The cybersecurity aspects of e-commerce are also affected by several consumer protection legislations adopted in the European Union, which approach the issue from the consumer rights perspective. One of the most significant risks is the marketing of counterfeit or unsafe products.