Online shopping is quite convenient nowadays. Customers can shop easily, search for the best prices and have their orders delivered to their doorstep from the comfort of their own home. But the thing is, online shopping is more than just getting the lowest price on the market.
You also need to ensure that your customers’ online shopping experience is secure. Since your consumers are passing on essential data whenever they transact or shop at your store, it’s important to ensure that their connection is secure.
Here’s how you can make it hassle-free and a pleasant experience:
1. Choose the right platform for your business
Choosing the right platform for your business can affect the cybersecurity of your e-commerce business. That’s why you need to choose the right platform to build your e-commerce website.
There are three basic types of platforms:
Open source (such as Magneto) Custom closed source (usually used by established companies with excellent cybersecurity resources and expertise such as IBM.)
Among these platforms, the least secure option is closed source because it is not open to public review. Therefore, certain vulnerabilities may go unnoticed, especially during the testing phases. Unlike open source platforms that are already well tested before updates are rolled out.
2. Install an SSL certificate for secure online shopping
SSL certificates are not only crucial for e-commerce. In cybersecurity, SSL is a digital certificate often used to secure and encrypt communication on a website or application. This creates trust between the two computers. In this way, we prevent hackers from eavesdropping on communication channels.
This also means that you should purchase an SSL certificate and install it on your e-commerce site. This is because hackers often intercept data such as credit card information and passwords.
3. Consider fraud screening systems
Even when contactless payments were developed, many businesses were plagued by fraud, chargebacks and overall risk.
Today, more and more business owners (and their customers!) are facing the risk of credit card data theft. This information is then used to make fraudulent purchases online.
Fortunately, many fraud prevention tools are already on the market to create a safe online shopping experience. One of them uses a machine learning algorithm and manual rules to detect fraud. So, if you accept the cashless payment option, get a great fraud software. That way, you can monitor and eliminate these fraud risks in your business.
4. Set up PCI compliance for secure online payments
If you accept credit card payments, you must comply with the PCI Security Standards Council.
This typically includes more than 400 testing procedures and 12 core requirements to ensure your personal data is secure at all levels.
It would be helpful if you could also keep in mind that compliance starts with hardware-level security that passes through to your hosting provider. Then assess the security of your software.
5. Keep passwords safe
If your customers need to create purchase orders on your site, you must ensure that all passwords are stored securely.
You must also ensure that your customer data is protected according to industry regulations. Also, whenever possible, all of your sensitive data should be unreadable. In addition, it is necessary to apply solutions such as salty hashes.
6. Enable multi-factor authentication
One of the best ways to ensure your customers are safe online is to enable multi-factor authentication. This is especially true for returning visitors.
You can also ask your customers to share their phone numbers and email address. That way, they can verify their identity when shopping on your site. This tip also allows you to track who is accessing your website.
7. Use firewalls
Firewalls are like software solutions that act as an invisible cloak. These will usually protect your website’s cybersecurity defenses. In this way, it will be difficult for sponsors to look for weaknesses that they want to exploit.
In the same way, they are also vital, especially if you have vulnerable protocols. This is because they can quickly scan incoming links. Then decide whether requests are allowed or not based on predefined rules.
8. Keep online shopping platforms up to date
Most security issues with your e-commerce systems are usually resolved by the provider during the support period. That’s why it’s vital for you to keep your online shopping platforms up-to-date.
That way, after that period, upgraded IT systems and unmaintained code couldn’t get through those online transactions.
9. Implement data protection
It is vital that, as an e-commerce site, you provide sufficient protection to your customers’ data. You may collect personal information. Thus, the more data you collect to identify an individual, the better data protection mechanisms will be available.
Data encryption is also a great idea. In the case of e-commerce system database leaks, attackers could not easily read or use your customers’ data. Finally, you should also know how to prevent brute force attacks against these accounts. One pattern is autologin attempts. It’s also worth considering outsourcing your authentication process to a third-party vendor.
10. Encourage safe behavior
Logins and passwords aren’t the only things that protect your online store from account takeovers or fraud. Ideally, you should also promote good practices when it comes to password creation and handling.
One way to prevent account takeover is to download and use a list of leaked passwords. You should check if certain passwords have already been leaked. Similarly, use a password strength meter.
That way, you can help your customers or clients create secure passwords.
Another thing you can add is multi-factor authentication as an extra layer of protection. One-time codes sent via text message or email may prevent account retrieval.
Above you
So here it is. Is your e-commerce business lagging behind in the security department? If so, what are the things you should do to keep your website secure?
As an e-commerce owner, you need to protect your website and customers from online fraud. Applying the following tips helps encourage safe behavior and make your online shopping experience safer.
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