With more people shopping online than ever before, it’s quickly become a haven for hackers and loopholes in the site design and infrastructure of many ecommerce sites on the internet today.
With the most lucrative target for cybercriminals being the e-commerce industry, online retailers must be mindful of the risks and take the appropriate measures to protect their sites.
It’s not just about making sure your site is updated with all of the latest plugins, security software and verifications in place, it’s also about knowing when, where and how hackers and bots are getting access to valuable customer information.
All of that and more will be highlighted in today’s ecommerce security resource guide.
Table of Contents
What Is E-Commerce Security?
E-commerce security is the measures taken to protect your company’s data and system from attacks from cybercriminals and malicious bots. It secures your online business and protects the personal details of your customers.
What Is the Importance of E-Commerce Security?
You must ensure that all consumer data is managed safely and securely as an e-commerce business owner. E-commerce security is a complicated subject, but you must keep your website safe from hackers and confidential customer data from being stolen.
Customers will only deal with a company they can trust. They expect their data, such as their credit card number or other banking information, to be well secured when entering it into a form on your e-commerce store. Consumers may never want to do business with you if your business is hacked and customer information is revealed. Hence, the importance of e-commerce security.
How to Protect Your Customer’s Data?
Choose A Secure E-Commerce Platform to Build Your Store
As the saying goes, when you get the fundamentals right, the rest will fall into place. Using a website builder with a safe payment solution is the first step in creating a secure e-commerce website.
It may not be easy to choose the right e-commerce platform or a website builder for you because there are so many open-source and proprietary options. WooCommerce, Square Room, Shopify, Wix, and others are among the e-commerce store builders out there.
Wix is one of the best website builders with a secure payment solution. You can handle orders and payments all in one place with Wix payments.
It’s easier to accept payments on your platform without using a third-party payment gateway, thanks to a simple setup method. Wix Payments has the following features:
- Setup is simple and free
- Online payments are secure and convenient
- Accept credit/debit cards, iDeal, and Pay Now by Klarna
- Payouts, refunds, and chargebacks are all controlled from a single dashboard
- There’s no need for a third-party payment processor
- Customer service available 24 hours
Regardless of which platform you use, make sure it has extensive security measures in place and is PCI compliant. Run PCI scans on your server to make sure you comply. Also, make sure you’re using the most recent software update. As soon as new updates are released, install them.
Implement SSL Certificates
SSL is the de facto industry standard for online transaction protection. The SSL certificate verifies users’ identities and encrypts data in transit and on the server. SSL is required for safe communication between end-user systems and your e-commerce site.
The padlock icon and “HTTPS” found in the address bar are required for tech-savvy buyers to include their details and credit card information in the address bar. Consumers will feel safe doing business with a retailer if they believe the vendor is doing everything possible to protect their transactions.
Use Two-Factor Authentication
Stolen or corrupted user credentials often trigger online security breaches. Hackers can use several phishing tactics to steal or guess valid user credentials, putting your online store’s protection at risk. That’s where a secure user authentication scheme comes in handy; it’s the foundation for defending your online store from hacking attempts.
As an additional layer of security, many e-commerce sites use two-factor authentication (2FA). This is a protection technique that allows a valid user to provide two types of identification: one is usually the username/password combination, and the other is usually an auto-generated code sent to the user’s verified phone number.
Hackers may be able to guess a user’s password, but they will not steal the 2FA code, which is normally only valid for a limited time.
Use a Virtual Private Network
On public networks, you must exercise extreme caution when dealing with customer data, especially financial transactions. Malicious users have the potential to intercept data sent over public networks.
In this case, a VPN service comes in handy. It establishes an encrypted link to a protected offsite server, preventing a third party from interfering with your communication with the server.
If the cost of a conventional VPN service worries you, consider an SSL-based VPN, which is less costly. OpenVPN is a common option because it provides a free, open-source, community-based version.
Customers and Employees Should Be Educated
Users must be aware of the laws and policies that control customer data. Inform your customers and employees about your information security procedures. Tell them how you protect your customers’ credit card information and what they should do to protect their financial information.
Emphasize your company’s data protection best practices and tell them not to send confidential information via email, text, or chat.
Your staff must also be informed of the steps that must be taken to protect customer information. To shield the company from legal actions, tell them to follow all security protocols and policies strictly.
Set Up Alerts
If your payment processor allows it, you can set up notifications that are triggered by several variables. You will get a notification if any of the following events occur:
- Orders placed from IP addresses outside the chosen country the user signed up
- Billing and customer data inconsistencies
- Multiple orders on the same card
- Orders from the same individual with different credit cards
- Shipping and billing details that contradict each other
- A mismatch between customer and cardholder names
You may set up payment processing rules to halt the charge and postpone the order until it’s manually accepted using alerts.
Final Thoughts on Protecting Customer Data
An e-commerce business involves more than just selling products on the internet via your website. If you operate an ecommerce business, you must ensure that your customers’ privacy is protected.
This includes their credit card information as well as other financial information entrusted to your platform. You must ensure your site’s users’ information and prevent hackers from gaining access to it.
Unless you identify a major risk or possible danger, maintaining a safe site does not require a large amount of effort. The proactive measures outlined in this article, for the most part, require nothing more than routine maintenance and monitoring to keep your company and customers safe.
Never forget that the foundation of a secure online store is a website builder with a secure payment solution.
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