ThreatMetrix, The Digital Identity Company, research identified 251 million fraud attempts, a 113% growth over 2016, during 2017's fourth quarter. The report also revealed an increased attack volume originating from Russia.

The Q4 2017 Cybercrime Report from San Jose, Calif.-based Threat Metrix found the number of attacks on e-commerce during the fourth quarter of 2017 was 113% of the volume of attacks across all industries in the previous quarter, underscoring the pressure facing retailers during this period. Almost 193 million transactions rejected as fraudulent, representing a 173% increase over the previous year.

The Q4 2017 Cybercrime Report also revealed an increased volume of attacks originating from Russia, using both automated bots and location spoofing tools. Key shopping days in Q4 over the holiday season saw up to 2 million bot attacks coming from Russia alone. These persistent, but increasingly sophisticated, attacks primarily targeted top American retailers.