Setting up an E-commerce website has become so easy nowadays. However, the hardest part of an E-commerce website is its security. E-commerce stores are avenues where big monies are in circulation. Where money is in plenty, hackers and cybercriminals will always be there. They try to do everything to steal resources and use them for malicious purposes. A research report by Hamilton Place strategies indicate that cybercrimes has caused the global economy about $450 billion annually up nearly 200 percent in five years. This proves that cyberattacks on E-commerce websites can be very fatal.
To prevent this from happening, E-commerce websites ought to rise to the occasion and set up measures that will help prevent the now rampant cases of cyber insecurity. E-commerce website owners should understand the kind of insecurity to which they risk getting. Some of the E-commerce security threats include;
- Phishing
- DDoS attacks
- XSS
- Trojan Horses
- SQL injections
- Brute Force Attacks
- Financial frauds
This article will provide E-commerce website owners with the measures that they can use to prevent such attacks.
1. Carry Out Regular Updates To Your Systems
Software companies are ever on the lookout for vulnerabilities that might exist in their software. They then release new versions that have these issues and bugs fixed. These versions provide smooth functionality as well as improving on the general security of the software.
This is it is vital for E-commerce website owners to be on the lookout for the new updates and install them the moment they are released and tested.
Whenever a software update pops up on your screen, it is essential that you take a little of your time to install it. Doing this will deny the cyber attackers a chance to cause havoc to your E-commerce website.
2. Install a Secure Sockets Layer To your E-commerce Website
E-commerce websites involve a lot of information transfers between browsers and the server. Information in transit is at the risk of interceptions by cybercriminals. The hackers can then use this information for the wrong reasons. This is where SSL certificates come in. An SSL certificate all the data, files, and information in transit. The information is then transferred in an encrypted form.
Hackers who happen to come across the information will not be able to decipher the meaning of the information. This protects the information from being stolen or being altered in the course of a transfer. All E-commerce websites should acquire and install an SSL certificate.
There are a lot of SSL certificates that are available for the E-commerce website out of them wildcard SSL certificate is one perfect SSL certificate that you should choose for your E-commerce website, which can secure unlimited subdomains. You should only acquire an SSL certificate from a Trusted Authority.
3. Regularly Backup Your Data For Your E-commerce Website
Carrying out regular backups is essential. Data backup is a kind of a contingency plan that will come to aid just in case all the laid down security infrastructure for your E-commerce website fail to protect the data.
Data might also get lost due to hardware malfunction. In case the data is essential to the operation of your E-commerce website, then you will have to retrieve it.
Backing up the data for your E-commerce website will ensure that you retrieve the data when you need it. If you do not back up your data, you are at risk of losing it for good.
It is also crucial that you do the backup yourself. Setting up an automatic data backup will be of the essence so that in case you are not in a position of manually doing the backup, the data will be backed up automatically.
You can go a step further and make a copy of the backed up data so that you use it just in case you lose the original copy. A web hosting company that automatically creates a backup for your E-commerce website can also be an excellent idea.
4. Use Firewall Security
Firewalls play a critical role in the security of E-commerce websites. Using a secure firewall will protect your E-commerce website from hackers and viruses. Firewalls keep untrusted networks and hackers at bay and regulate all the traffic that gets into and leave your website.
Firewalls hence offer selective permeability and only allow in trusted traffic. Firewalls also protect your website against cyber risks like cross-site scripting and SQL injections. We advise all E-commerce websites to set up firewalls for their websites.
5. Make Use of Strong Passwords
One easy way that cybercriminals can use to get into your website is through the brute force attack. This is where they try to come up with a combination of letters hoping to get lucky and crack your login details.
The only way that E-commerce website owners can avoid this is by using very strong passwords. A strong password is one that is long enough. We recommend eight or more characters.
Passwords should also be a combination of both uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. It is also wise to use different passwords for each account. Using one password for all your accounts puts all your accounts at dangers of cybercriminals.
6. Choose a Safe and Secure Web Hosting Provider
Choosing a secure and reliable web hosting provider is critical to the security of your E-commerce website. There are many web hosting providers that exist today. You should make sure that you select the best. A web hosting provider that is susceptible to hackers will drive away your customers.
It is, therefore, vital for you to go for a web hosting provider that integrates security features into your E-commerce website.
Such security features include the installation of SSL certificates and undertaking regular backups. Above all, you should select a web hosting company that offers reliable 24-hour technical support.
7. DDoS Protection
Distributed Denial of Service has become so rampant. Hackers find DDoS attacks quite easy to execute. They also have proved to be effective for most websites. What hackers do is to shut down a website by simply overloading it with heavy traffic.
In the end, the website will slow down and crush. DDoS attacks can be executed on any website. So E-commerce websites are no exception.
They can lead to catastrophic losses to your E-commerce websites. This is why you need to protect your E-commerce website against such attacks.
DDoS mitigation services are available to help in protecting your website against DDoS attacks. They prevent any traffic that might be intended to crash your website. They also monitor the traffic to make sure that it is human and not an intended DDoS attack.
8. Install an Antivirus and Antimalware Software
Anti-virus and antimalware software prevent any malicious interruption on your E-commerce website. It does alert about any suspicious activities. All E-commerce websites should ensure that they install this software so as to improve on their security.
9. Use Multi-layer Security
One solution will never be sufficient to keep your E-commerce website safe. Redundancy is a key to ensuring that your E-commerce website is safe and secure from any attacks. Cybercriminals are ever-persistent, and putting up only one security solution will never be enough.
They will always try to get a loophole to access your E-commerce website. The idea is that they find another wall behind the loophole. To achieve this, you have to put in place as many measures that have been explained in this article as possible.
10. Use a Secure E-commerce Platform
There are a lot of e-commerce platforms that exist today. When selecting an E-commerce platform, it is crucial to focus on that which provides the utmost safety.
If the E-commerce platform does not have a perfect plan to protect your E-commerce websites, then you should move on to another. The site you choose should enforce strong passwords and must have a secured checkout page; have an HTTPS protocol, and two-step verification.
To Sum Up
It is a smart approach to understand the risks that hackers pose to your E-commerce. These risks can be catastrophic and can leave your business in a devastating situation. Knowing how to protect yourself from these risks is also essential.
As an E-commerce website owner, you should put in place measures that protect your website from these risks. This article explains some of the measures that can be put in place to protect your E-commerce website.