The security of your ecommerce website is key to the success and the continued existence of your ecommerce business. With your online security guaranteed, you will worry little about security breaches and focus on profit-making and the growth of your business. It is solely your duty to make your customers trust their safety while transacting and operating on your site.
Today, the rate of cyber breaches is extremely alarming. According to a study carried out by the University of Maryland, there is a cyber breach attempt for an average of 39 seconds per minute. This stat is extremely alarming and shows how vital it is to protect your website. This article has explained some of the steps that you can take to protect your website from the many cyber threats that exist today. Do not wait until it is too late, step up and put these measures in place as early as possible.
-
Buy an SSL certificate
HTTPS is the trademark of a secure website, which requires SSL certification. It is vital to know what an SSL is and how it works to protect your website against threats. Installing an SSL in your website is worth it. Absence of an SSL certificate exposes your website to a myriad of cyber threats including E skimming (credit card stealing), SQL injection, cross site scripting and phishing attacks.
Buying an SSL certificate is the first answer to the question of cyber insecurity. An SSL certificate encrypts the communication between devices. SSL simply plays the encryption role with data transfer between browsers and servers. Other than that, SSL renders proof that it is the real server connecting to the browser. Installing an SSL is a plus to the security of your website.
SSL helps your ecommerce website build security confidence in your customers, protect their credit cards information and improves the position of your website in the search engines results pages. Installing the SSL security attribute will put you a notch higher over your competitors who have not yet bought the idea.
-
Understand the signs of possible cyber threats and respond to them immediately
You can’t block cyber threats when you are not aware of what a cyber-threat is or looks like. There are tens of red flags that exhibit the possibility of a cyber-attack. Below, I have outlined some of the signs of cyber threats to your website.
- Your customers start receiving mailing messages you did not send.
- Several pop ups and additional tool bars start to appear on your screen whenever you are logged on in the internet.
- Disappearance of money from your bank accounts and your customers’ accounts.
- Frequent redirects with your internet searches
- Software unknown to you begin installing and maybe impossible to stop
Prevention has forever been better than cure. Respond promptly to any loopholes that may put your ecommerce website to a cyber-insecurity risk.
-
Put in place strong password practices
Hackers will usually use brute force hacks to find their way in to your website and cause damage. Hackers may try several guesses in your site login expecting to luckily crack your password. Having a strong password is core. It should not be easy to guess. Ensure that you make the password as long as possible. An ideal length of a password should be between eight to twelve characters.
The password should also be a mixture of uppercase and lowercase letters. It should be memorable and impossible to guess. Use different passwords for all your ecommerce business accounts. Use a good password management tool to keep your passwords secret. Never discuss your passwords with anybody.
Also be keen on how you store your password. Most people find it convenient to store passwords in the browsers. This is very risky as anyone who can access the browser can also access the accounts.
-
Frequently back up your data
Data backup is very important to your website. Hackers are always on the lookout for any security vulnerabilities in your website. They will tend to use this vulnerability to launch an attack against your website. Backups are saviors. Backups keep you a duplicate version of your files and general data.
They recover your website to its last state. Choosing a good backup solution is primary. Offsite backups are the best solution to this. A good recovery solution will quickly and easily restore your lost data, restore the complete set of your lost files, alert you whenever you fail to backup and offer you quality customer support.
-
Embrace further authentication processes
Authentication processes such as the two-factor authentication uses two steps to verify security credentials. It ensures and allows users who have been authorized only to log in to your website. The two-factor authentication process adds an extra layer of security to the preexisting security protocols.
With two factor authentications, your customers provide two verification details correctly before being allowed to login. This could be by sending a mobile code to their mobile numbers, one-time passwords and by use of fingerprints. This makes it almost impossible for attackers to gain access to your website, device or transactions.
-
Safeguard your business equipment and systems
Workplace security is important as well. Ensure your business quarters are well protected and under 24-hour surveillance. Ensure that only authorized personnel are free to handle your computers. Be on the lookout for suspicious guests who may have intention to steal data from your offices.
You must also make your employees aware that they should keep their devices safe and their passwords secret at all times. Nevertheless, USBs and other portable hard drives must never be inserted in to work place computers as they may infect them with viruses or be used to carry away data.
-
Set cyber security policies and guidelines for your staff and customers.
Ignorance amongst any members of your staff or visitors may cost your ecommerce business a great deal. Many workers will take cyber security matters lightly. As the sole proprietor of your business, you must never let this happen. Help them understand the essence of cyber security.
This can be reached by setting cyber security policies and guidelines. This will help them know what should and what should not be done, what should and what should not be shared. Personal data such as computers and devices, emails, data and passwords should never be revealed to anyone else.
-
Safeguard your customer’s information
Your customers and prospective customers are the reason why your ecommerce business wakes up every morning. It is therefore important that you encrypt their information pretty well. Ensure that the transactions between them and you, are safe. Losing your customers information could turn out to be a fatal and consequential to your business ranking. You could lose reputation and might face judicial consequences.
-
Install a firewall and other security software
Firewalls, as the name suggests, shields your business from danger. It serves as a protective cover between any system and the internet. The firewall will help you block hacks and cracks. Apart from firewalls, you can also adopt any other internet security software based on your needs.
-
Desist from Using Public Wi-Fi
Public Wi-Fi poses a great risk to cyber security. Never use public Wi-Fi while connecting to your website. Rarely do they have security protocols that can be trusted. Hackers will often wait at public Wi-Fi to launch an attack on any unsuspecting individuals. This could bring to you great loss including your login credentials, bank account logins credit card data, and your social media pages.
Conclusion
Your e-commerce business is usually simple to run. However cyber insecurity stands out as the greatest danger your business will come by. It is therefore important to implement data protection measures. This article has explained to you some of the best cyber security principles that will help you keep at bay any cyber threats. A minor cyber-attack could bring your e-commerce business to a halt. It is entirely your endeavor to safeguard it. By heeding these steps you will be way ahead of hackers.