Starting up a business is not an easy task. It requires hard work, resources, and capital to invest. It’s quite obvious that no business owner can afford to leave their store at the risk of a security breach. For that reason, protecting your online store is as important as protecting your brick-and-mortar store (a walk-in store) from thieves. Why so? Because your online store can also get robbed. Yeah, you heard it right: an online robbery does exist!
Now listen! You have to prepare yourself against the invisible war going on to hijack your e-commerce websites. And you know what? Without the essential e-commerce security features, this goal of yours is under the risk of falling into the traps of hacker’s cyber attacks.
Are you feeling distressed? Well, no need to worry at all because UnityDiv has brought you a blog that will inform you of the best e-commerce security tips so that you can safeguard yourself, your store, and your valuable customers against digital security threats.
Let’s dive deep!
Always Use Secure E-Commerce Platform
The first and most important security measure that you must take for your store’s safety is to choose the most secure e-commerce platform for your business setup. According to a report by BigCommerce, stores that use robust platforms with built-in security measures are less likely to be victims of data breaches.
That is why it is important to go for comparatively secure e-commerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and not to mention, Magento as these platforms offer in-built security features like:
- SSL certificates
- Regular security updates
- Fraud protection
So, lay the foundation of your online store wisely. Evaluate each platform’s security options such as encryption methods, server security, and data protective protocols for customers.
Enable HTTPS to Secure Your Website
HTTPS is an additional layer of defense. It encrypts the data exchanged between your site and your users. Doing so, not only protects your e-commerce store from security breaches but also builds trust and authority, helping you improve your SEO rankings as search engines favor secure sites. For that reason, an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate is not optional, it is necessary. Customers also consider sites with padlock icons in the address bar as safe.
Note: Make sure to update and set your SSL certificates properly as misconfigured and expired SSL creates vulnerabilities and your potential buyers may feel threatened to go through them.
Do Regular Security Testing
Gene Spafford once said: “The only system that is secured is the one powered off.” But in this digital world, no one can afford to go offline. So, what’s the better alternative? In a world where cyber security threats are evolving really fast and where what worked for you last year might not work today, hiring yourself a cybersecurity expert- who can measure the strength of your security defenses and protect you against any attacks- is the best possible alternative. In this regard, hiring cybersecurity professionals from UnityDiv serves your ultimate interests. We help you identify vulnerabilities before hackers identify them. How? By regularly doing website security testing.
Implement Strong Password
Weak passwords can be the biggest vulnerability of your e-commerce website. In fact, this is the basic security vulnerability to tackle. But do you know what? Many sites are still doing it wrong. Make sure to have strong password policies for customers as well as administrators. How so?
- Include upper case, lower case, numbers, and symbols in your password.
- Add extra security passwords through expiration protocols.
- Incorporate two-step password recovery protocols.
- Remind your users to not repeat their passwords on too many sites as using the same password across many sites is a security blunder.
- Suggest password management tools to your users.
Keep Your Software Updated
Outdated software is nothing less than an unlocked door. You yourself are allowing thieves to come and rob you. Attackers are more likely to use outdated plugins to break in. While updates bring with them remedies for known vulnerabilities. So, skipping updates will leave your store at risk of cyber attacks, necessitating you to keep your platform, plugins, and extensions up to date.
A Point to Consider: If possible, automate updates. Also, test new updates on a staging environment before updating your e-commerce website to ensure they do not break the functionality of your website.
Other Important E-Commerce Security Tips
- Ensure secure online payment gateway that meets PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard). You can also guarantee that by incorporating providers with good security reputation such as PayPal, Stripe, and Square.
- Multi-factor authentication must be implemented for both customers and admins.
- Educate your team to not get scammed through phishing scams and malicious links. For that, include security training of employees as part of their onboarding.
- Implement firewalls as they inspect all incoming traffic. This thing is especially important to prevent DDoS attacks. According to a UNICC report (page 4), firewalls play an important role in protecting websites from data breaches.
- Perform regular backups, no matter how secure your store is. Performing test restore at regular intervals will verify that your backups are good by ensuring that data is still there and recoverable.
- Use anti-virus and anti-malware software.
- Monitor website activity, especially activity logs. Your web hosting provider like UnityDiv can also help you in this regard with pinpointing source of issues and accelerating troubleshooting processes.
Final Thoughts
Securing e-commerce stores must be your top priority. With rising incidents of cybercrimes, the afore-mentioned e-commerce security tips are not just tips, these are your armor against all cyber strikes. So, pick the best armor for yourself. Go for the most secure e-commerce platforms, stay current with your software, and hire professionals like UnityDiv in providing you the top-notch e-commerce security services.
Wanna get the best quote? Contact us now!
