This blog was written by an independent guest blogger.
Ecommerce is a popular business model. Many people are getting into this business and looking for ways to secure early retirement from typical 9 to 5 jobs. With the right ideas and execution, there is a good chance that this will happen, but making it in eCommerce isn’t that easy as it was in the past.
Yes, there are more options than ever in terms of delivery, logistics, storage, and creating an online store. However, there is a lot more competition, and everyone is looking for new ways to enhance their services and bring in more customers.
Online businesses are also dealing with increased cybersecurity threats. In fact, it’s been argued that 29% of traffic on ecommerce sites are people with malicious intentions. It’s an issue you must tackle if you want to achieve your business goals.
Luckily, there are a lot of ways you can boost your security.
Find a reliable ecommerce platform
When starting an ecommerce site, the first thing you notice is that there are many ecommerce platforms available. However, many people don’t even consider security when choosing their platform or hosting provider.
Both the platform and the host you choose have a significant impact on your site’s security. They use a variety of security measures and features that make your store safer.
In general, they should at least offer protection from SQL injections and malware since they are common attacks. Take the time to look at what different platforms and hosts have to offer.
Choose HTTPS and SSL
HTTPS is short for “Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure”, and this protocol is designed for establishing secure communications online. HTTPS sites are considered secure and unique because they have certification.
In other words, a site that has the “green lock” is authentic, and it isn’t a fake page. For HTTPS to be enabled, a site needs an SSL certificate or Secure Socket Layer.
This system helps protect the data going between a buyer and your ecommerce store. Apart from improving security, SSL also brings in more customers as many people avoid stores without it.
Do regular backups
Accidents and attacks are sometimes unavoidable, but backups help you get your site back online quickly. Whether an update has created an issue with your site or someone has used malicious software – you can’t let your store stay offline.
Even the best cybersecurity experts can’t guarantee that your website will be 100% secure. That’s why regular backups are necessary – backing up your site means downloading your whole site and creating a duplicate.
If something happens, you can upload this duplicate and get your site back online. Ideally, your hosting provider should offer daily backups as well.
Get PCI compliant
Lots of people are reluctant to give their bank or credit card details online. They have the right to be sceptical because there have been many cases of this information falling into the wrong hands. That’s why ecommerce websites should attain PCI compliance.
It includes 12 steps towards securing your payment gateways, focusing on vulnerability tests, cardholder data protection, and penetration scans. PCI compliance will show your customers that you care about their money and the transactions they make on the site.
Implement multi-factor authentication
Multi-factor authentication or MFA is a system that creates an additional layer of security for your customer accounts.
When users enter their password and username correctly, they don’t get access to their accounts right away. Instead, they will have to give another answer to be able to access it. It can be a randomly generated PIN sent to their phone number, fingerprint, voice print, credit card information, smartphone, and so on.
In this case, even if someone can steal login credentials from one of your users, they won’t be able to log into their accounts.
Find professional data & payment processing services
Most ecommerce owners have concerns about losing customer data. However, when it comes to payments, you can completely go around the challenge of storing data. Simply find a reliable third-party payment processing company that will establish an encrypted payment tunnel.
Many ecommerce sites use these payment providers to handle payment data – that way, the service provider is taking care of security when dealing with customer data.
Remove the “default password” option
As we mentioned earlier, passwords are one of the weakest links in your ecommerce site’s security. First, make sure that all admins have unique and complex passwords – remove all the default ones that were set after you created your store.
Also, consider using a password manager to keep track of your passwords – don’t use the same password and login credentials for all admin accounts.
Conclusion
These are some of the essential security practices you need to set in place if you want your ecommerce store to stay safe. It’s important to constantly work on security measures if you want to ensure long-term success.
Also, consider hiring a cybersecurity consultant that can extensively look at your security strategy. Finally, if you are looking for a reliable website builder with quality security features, check out WebsiteToolTester.
