When you run an e-commerce platform, you need to protect yourself and your customers.
In recent years alone, it wasn’t uncommon for more than a million new cyber threats to be unveiled daily. As you can imagine, being vulnerable to attacks and fraud can make your e-commerce business incredibly vulnerable.
If you are trying to provide the best possible experience to your customers, it’s important that you do everything you can to tighten the security. In this regard, consider these tips so you can make the most of your e-commerce security.
Using a firewall and VPN can help your business enjoy some of the best security possible.
A VPN masks your IP address, while a firewall creates a digital barrier of what data enters and leaves your systems. You’ll be able to monitor these systems as needed so that you’re not open to attacks.
Make sure that you check the firewall continuously so that you can set rules that are applicable. You’ll have full control over these rules and can decide on them as you see fit.
Anytime you do business online, you’ll notice that the site is always “https” rather than “http”.
The additional “s” denotes a secure connection, and this protocol has become the norm for doing business online. Not only is HTTPS actually more secure, your customers will also begin to expect to see it, and it’ll hurt your brand if you aren’t using the most secure, up to date protocols.
There are several eCommerce platforms that you can use, so never make the decision hastily.
Above all, choose a dashboard that has received a lot of reviews and trust from the public. Look into their security platforms and choose one that is very responsive whenever you have an issue.
You should also look for their Better Business Bureau performance since this points to sound practices and care. The decision of which eCommerce dashboard you use will have a huge effect on the results that you get for your business, so never take it lightly.
It’s important that you also be careful about the information that you store.
Above all, make sure that you never store your customers’ credit card information. This is the number one target of hackers, and they’ll compromise your entire company.
Not only does this leave your customers vulnerable, but it’ll definitely hurt your brand as well. When people can’t feel safe shopping with you, it can do irreparable damage.
Be sure that you also teach your customers about being safe as well. Leave notices that they should never give up personal information, since hackers may pose as your customer service representatives in order to gain access to their accounts.
Rather than storing your customer’s credit card information, process payments through a third-party gateway, so that it happens off-site.
Without questions, backing up your data is one of the most important things that you can do.
Site downtime and security breaches should, in most cases, be setbacks, rather than breaches. The reason for this is that you can always back up your data to prevent worst case scenarios.
While there’s no one rule for how often to back up your information, you can really never do it too much. Since you have so much riding on your company and the information that you use each day, backing it up is a crucial way to avoid worst-case scenarios.
Updates are king and will keep your eCommerce company ahead of the curve.
The last thing you’d want to do get left behind because you are using obsolete practices. Anything that improves your platform and your security will be beneficial to your company and the customers that shop with you.
For instance, you need to make sure that your website is loading quickly at all times.
Reach out to some web developers that can assist you anytime that you’re looking to make upgrades that count. They’ll make sure your network security is sophisticated and that you’re always using up to date design principles.
Finally, get back to basics and make sure that all of your passwords are as ironclad as possible.
Set strict rules for the passwords and make sure that you’re regularly changing yours out — whether you feel like you need to or not. Pass the word along to your customers, making sure that they also set strong passwords, and keep the requirements strict.
All the sophisticated security practices in the world won’t matter if someone flat-out knows your password. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot by making your password too simple.
The majority of business these days will have at least some e-commerce elements. So the sooner you become accustomed to the way business is done digitally, the more you will be able to thrive.
This comes with an obligation to understand security matters, as explained in the points above. If you stay on top of your security, your company will be better for it and you’ll avoid mistakes that can truly hurt you.
Consider these tips to get the most out of your e-commerce security decisions, and stay tuned to our blog for more help.
