Do you want to secure your e-commerce website?
Nowadays it is very easy to set up your own e-commerce website. But, keeping it safe from frauds and hackers is not that easy. So, how can people with small and midsized businesses manage the safety of their e-commerce websites?
Thankfully you can take some preventive measures to ensure your e-commerce security. You don’t need to be a computer geek to understand these measures.
Ways to keep your e-commerce website secure
Following are some basic steps to help you keep your website along with the customers and their data safe.
- Selection of a secure e-commerce platform and web host
You will come across several e-commerce solutions for your e-commerce website, but the thing is that you don’t just need a “solution”, you require a “secure solution”. A secure solution is when you choose the right web host and platform for the maximum security of your website. Most of the time, we see that there are built-in security measures in e-commerce website makers. But, not all the hosts and platforms need to have the same or even equal security levels.
For this issue, what you can do is look around, do your research, try different platforms and web hosts, and make sure that you choose the one that is best for your business, you, and of course your customers and their data. Select a combination of platform and host that offers complete security against the most common threats, such as SQL injections and malware.
Moreover, to get providers who, offer built-in security protocols, you will need an SSL certificate.
SSL certificate helps in encrypting the data of your website between the user’s web browser and your website.
- Perform SQL checks regularly
You must know that SQL injections can be easily made in the form of a user’s input. This is why regularly checking the SQL ensures the security and safety of your e-commerce website.
Different software options can be very helpful in monitoring and protecting your e-commerce website from SQL injections. You can also find free scanners to perform the same task but make sure you are downloading them from a trusted source.
After you have selected the scanner, set it for regular checks. In this way, if there is any issue, it will be found before someone can harm your website’s database.
- Do not keep your customer’s information on your website
When there is no data, then how can you lose it? It is better to use a third-party, encrypted checkout for payment procedures. The most famous payment portals or gateways are highly secure and do not leak user data.
Choose a compatible payment platform for your e-commerce web host. Anyone who has an e-commerce website wants an option, that is offering the best and industry-leading protection against fraud and identity theft.
- Keep an eye on what you are downloading and integrating
It must be a great thing that you are always able to download and integrate new tools, plugins, and apps directly to the website. But, don’t just go and download whatever you like, you should always be aware of every single plugin, app, or tool that you download or integrate. Hackers can use these add-ons for implanting malicious protocols on your e-commerce website.
sometimes, the plugins are not fully optimized and result in making your website security vulnerable.
- Keep the website patched and updated
Developers are always finding ways to fix all the vulnerabilities, due to which new updates for the website keep coming. Make sure that you keep your e-commerce website updated because these updates include new and crucial security patches.
You can set auto-update also but if there is no auto-update to your website, be careful with manual updating. But, it is recommended to enable auto-update for your website and your computer also.
- Backup your website’s data regularly
Backing up will not help in preventing security threats much, but it will minimize the damage done. By backing up your data, you can avoid losing all the data.
It is advised that whenever you update the website, you should also backup your data. At least back it up once every three days.
You can also enable automatic backup, but make sure that the platform you are using is guarantying security.
- Promote stronger passwords.
Today, there is a great competition that passwords have to experience such as, MFA and facial recognition. But, the truth is there are always standard access keys available for such software. Never use the same password for various services. Reused passwords and usernames can easily be used by hackers for widespread fraud.
Even when you know that your e-commerce website is completely secure, even at that time your customers could become the weakest link. Make sure you are using a unique and strong password, to ensure the security of the website.
- Employ a website monitor
Most of the e-commerce web hosts and platforms offer some monitoring tools to their customers but, you should always look into other third-party web monitoring tools too. The reason why you should check these tools out is that they offer deeper management and monitoring features that help in keeping the website secure and make it run more reliably.
- A mindset that is focused on security
Threats and methods of hacking are evolving with every passing day, due to which it is necessary to maintain awareness and a security mindset. Today, most of the hacking is done by bots, that are always looking for reused passwords and usernames.
To prevent such blunders, you will be needed to look for e-commerce platforms whose priority is security.
The development in the field of IT is both negative and positive. The security systems are getting stronger but the hacking methodologies are also improving at almost the same pace. To own an e-commerce website means you need to look for every possible way to secure it. We hope that these steps of securing e-commerce websites help you in every possible way.
