Retail business today has reached a whole new level, thanks to the internet.
The name of the game is e-Commerce.
It’s very simple. You can go ahead and buy anything that you want to, from cosmetics to groceries, and everything in between.
But instead of going to the local supermarket, or anywhere else for that matter, the customer can do that from their smartphones, and pay with the different payment options available.
That is where the issue of security is most critical.
Because customers would be giving out important bank details to the online store they’re buying from.
If a hacker happens to steal that information from there, then that can spell real trouble for both parties, the buyer and the seller.
So, proper attention to security measures is definitely in order.
Read on through this to find out more.
Some of the Most Pressing Concerns Regarding e-Commerce Cyber Threats
Cyber threats can manifest themselves in many different forms.
Some can cause you a lot of problems than others, but it’s a really bad thing in all. And the best countermeasure for that is prevention.
Doing whatever you can to stop those cyber threats from causing problems for you.
And it’s really evident in e-Commerce as you’d be sharing important information there.
Have a look at some of the main issues, other than the obvious case for financial fraud.
- Phishing: Ever had businesses which you might have never heard of sending you emails asking for important information? That’s what phishing is, where hackers under the guise of business organizations, try to steal your important login passwords, bank details, etc.
- SQL Injections: Among the other important things from you that hackers might want access to are important databases. That’s what happens with SQL Injections, where hackers target your query submission. And thus put in harmful codes to siphon out valuable information.
- Bot Attacks: Another very troublesome thing is malicious bots, which break into the system mainframe. And from there, they take out information, or in some other cases, alter it to make a complete raucous.
Well, I barely scratched the surface of all the problems that might come your way.
So, what you’ll have to do to protect against all of these are to take certain measures. Let’s look at all of that.
6 Critical Measures for Foolproof Payment Security in e-Commerce
In 2019, there are as many protective measures available to us, as there are problems.
There are different companies which are in business with security solutions for e-Commerce.
But if we can boil all of that down to the basics, which are going to work no matter what, then we’ll have the following 6, so let’s have a look.
Use SSL Certificates
To start with, you’re going to need an SSL certificate. SSL is an acronym, for Secure Sockets Layer, which is mainly concerned with encryption of valuable information.
Consider this your first line of defense against any cyber threat to your e-Commerce transactions.
With powerful encryption, it’s going to secure the transit of all important information, including bank details. Thus, you’re going to be safe from any hacker trying to steal bank details and other sensitive information.
SSL Certificates also don’t cost that much.
So you must have that on your list of top priorities in the matter of running e-Commerce stores.
Reliable Backup for Data
Databases full of customer information forms the backbone of e-Commerce stores.
That is the most powerful information they’re going to need to market their business further. So, it’s super important to make sure that you don’t lose out on that.
Backing up all that data is a very substantial action you can take.
If some crafty hacker somehow breaks through all the line of security and then does something for which you lose that information, then the backup of all of that is what is going to help you recover from that massive setback. And thus keep your e-Commerce business up and running.
It’s nothing complicated, neither too expensive in 2019, where you’ve got automatic backup systems.
Tighten Up the Security of Admin Panels and Servers
If you’re keeping the default passwords and other login information, that came with your e-Commerce website setup then stop using them immediately.
Those login details are the easiest to hack through and you must change them right away.
Set strong passwords for all the different admin panels that are there. It’s also going to be the same for all the servers which you use.
And once you set proper login details for that, that’s just going to bolster the layer of security.
But there’s another way to step that up and get better control of the issue.
You can opt for notifications from your panel, every time someone attempts to log in using a different IP.
Use the HTTPS Protocol
This is going to be another very important thing that you can do to secure your e-Commerce store.
It’s been a long time since HTTP protocols were in use among the majority of websites on the internet.
And now that more and more businesses have come online, and have brought with them important data. HTTPS has been the most popular, where the ‘S’ stands for Secure.
Security aside, its also going to be important when it comes to search engine rankings.
Google has stated outright, that they’re going to rank websites which use the HTTPS protocol better.
Secure the Payment Gateway
You have equal responsibility as the customers, to do whatever it takes to keep the customer bank details safe.
And it’s the Payment Gateway where that information is going to be really vulnerable.
So, you’ll have to take all the necessary steps to secure the Payment Gateway. Thus it’s going to be safe and secure for your customers to make the purchases they want to.
One thing to keep in mind regarding securing the Payment Gateway and all the valuable credit card information is to never save any of that information in the servers.
As if you do that, it’s going to be rather easy for a hacker to pull that out of there.
Your best bet for this would be to use the services of a third-party Payment Gateway. And make sure that their reputation is up to the mark.
Use Firewalls and e-Commerce Security Plugins
Firewalls are also going to play a key factor in keeping your e-Commerce store secure.
It’s going to help you set regulations of the traffic that you get to your e-Commerce website. And with that, you’d be able to identify and eliminate from any network you find to be sketchy.
This is also going to help you fend off any situation of SQL Injections.
These kinds of attacks mainly come from those sketchy IP addresses. And then you’ve got all the e-Commerce security plugins at your disposal.
What these will do is protect you from the different malicious bots which can cause a lot of issues.
Both the firewall and the security plugins are going to be effective, and ideally, you should use both.
It is just that the firewall is going to be a bit more cost effective than the rest.
To Wrap Things Up
The importance of security, especially in matters where monetary transactions are involved goes without saying.
That’s why with all the methods that we’ve mentioned here, you’d be able to adopt a multi-layer approach.
As security breaches can come in many different forms and affect different things in the chain, so, with multiple lines of defense in the stack, you’d be much better off than putting all your eggs in one basket.