The hottest topic online is security breaches in eCommerce Businesses. Always keep an eye for hackers and implement some of our security tips to secure your eCommerce online business from hackers. The likeliness is if you have an open source platform, cyber theft can happen. Hackers are always busy trying to find new methods to steal important information from your clients, especially their account numbers to personal information.

Have you ever shopped online and thought to yourself, “How safe is this eCommerce website you are using?” We all have and the same applies to your own online shop. You want to keep your customers happy. Further, you want your clients to return and this happens when you keep their sensitive data safe.

You need to protect your business information and vulnerable data of customers. Therefore, what can you do to prevent being hacked in your online shopping platform online? Sit back relax, we are here to help you with securing your e-commerce business online with the following security tips.

Securing Your Data Starts with the Platform

Whether or not you already have an e-commerce business, online or starting out you need to choose a secure e-commerce platform. Make sure you are using sophisticated technology to keep your website safe. The best online shopping platforms administration panel needs to be inaccessible and a secondary authentication for users help.

Did you know the majority of attacks take place with employee login credentials via phishing, social engineering, malware and more? Hackers use harmful software to capture passwords and usernames giving them access to important information stored with you online. Using a two-factor authentication will help prevent hacking and keep data safe.

Educate your employees:

How many times have you received an email with links and attachments? Many times and how often have you happily opened it- numerous times? Well, the same counts for your employees. They open emails, links, and attachments. It only takes one click to activate software sent from hackers.

This is why it is important to educate your employees, keeping them up to date with the different methods used by a cybercriminal. Here the best training is to create a realistic scenario to test your employees. Further, this helps you to determine common mistakes and improving them in the process.

Another way to help with prevention is to call in a third-party social engineer to help you understand your security policies and programs to prevent outsiders from gaining access to sensitive information. They will facilitate a breach exercise to make sure all your important policies are in place.

Make sure your employees change their password on a regular basis and make sure they use a strong password. Remind them not to store the passwords where someone can see or find it.

Does your hosting company back you?                                                      

Make sure you are using a trusted hosting company taking security seriously. Here you can look at the following security features to ensure you are using the correct hosting company backing you no matter what happens online:

• If your web hosting company uses pre-installed RAID – this is a special system protecting your data and keeps files safe even if a server crashes. They may not include it with the different plans but offer it extra with an added fee.
• Downtime on a web-hosting server is bad for business, especially if the downtime happens frequently. Here you can find out if the web hosting service you use offer reimbursements for downtimes.
• Look if your current web host offers you some form of backup and best if you can use manual backups on a daily basis. Further, make sure what backup limit your hosting service offers. Read all the information related to the backup conditions before buying a hosting plan.

Use the SSL service

Have you done online banking before – you have what is the first thing you see when accessing Internet Banking? The website has a lock with https protocol in place giving you a secure connection.

Using an SSL Certificate on your website is a great way to keep your information safe. This service is necessary for any eCommerce business. The program includes small data files that bind a cryptographic key digitally and keeps the detail organised.

Further, it keeps credit card transactions, logins, and data transfer secure. Even the social media sites these days are using SSL Certification.

Implement PCI-DSS

Put the PCI-DSS on your e-commerce site. This is a helpful security standard and known as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. Why is this so important? If you deal with the leading credit card brands from the major card schemes this policy increases the control related to a client’s data and helps to reduce the risk of credit card frauds.

Read more about PCI-DSS in our previous article PCI-DSS Compliance: A Basic Guide.

Prevent storing delicate data:

You do not need to store millions of data on your client. Prevent storing the information related to their credit card such as the:

• Credit card number
• Card Verification Value code (CVV2)
• Expiration date

Use an AVS system:

You want to keep your client’s information protected when they use your payment service online. However, have you thought of yourself when a client pays their goods? You can become a victim of fraud as you send out the product bought without receiving the money.

This is where the Address Verification System known as AVS is handy. The system verifies addresses against their credit card information. This helps to verify credit card data, such as the clients billing address and Zip code against their account billing information.

In turn, this protects you from fraud why – because if the information does not tie up with the information provided to the credit card the transactions declined.

Keeping your site secure

For protecting your e-commerce brand online, utilise a WAF (Web Application Firewall.) This protects your site from different attacks. If you are using a platform such as WordPress make sure to keep the security patches up to date.

All plugins used needs to be the latest version and install a premium security plugin in case something happens to go wrong. Backup your entire site to an off-site storage and can be done automated. No matter if, you use a WordPress or Magento conduct security patch updates regularly.

By adding additional layers of security to login boxes, contact forms and search inquiries help to take measures in preventing a cyber attack. On the other hand, you can implement a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS.) With this handy feature, it keeps track of frequent attacks happening. Turn to a cloud-based one and a DNS service as this helps with bringing down operational costs.

A DNS hosting site can help you with improving your Internet-based system as it supports transactions and communicates online.

Keep Track of Orders

Although hacking methods have changed, you can still find old school frauds taking place, especially with credit cards. Use a tracking system to keep track of orders shipped as this helps you to avoid chargeback frauds when clients submit a false claim of no-shipment.

With a good tracking system and a proof of receipt, it helps prevent criminals from taking advantage of your online business. Further, restrict third-party advertisements and links. This can harm your business as it may lead your clients to unsavoury online practices. This keeps you safe from malicious processes or codes other companies may be using.

Final Thoughts

You may feel your e-commerce business does not stand a chance against hackers online. Wrong the important thing to remember is that vulnerabilities vary from one company to another and depends on its size. If you own a small or medium sized business with a relatively small to medium sized client base, you can prevent attacks from happening with these simple steps.

Always stay ahead with the latest security measures and take precaution to prevent this from ever happening to your business. Choose the correct technology as this has a direct impact on your business, as your commerce requirement is different to another and be safe.

Check out our other articles on security section.