Ecommerce websites attract millions of visitors daily, and they are hot targets for hackers. A security flaw can lead to a cyber-attack. It can affect business owners and customers both.
As a business owner, you must take measures to make your website safe and reliable to the customers. How to secure ecommerce websites? You don’t need to be tech-savvy or spend a lot on that. There are a few tips that can make your website safe and reliable.
In this article, we will discuss a few tips that can boost the security of your website and prevent hackers from stealing data. Let’s get started.
Common security threats for ecommerce websites
Cyber-attacks have become common, and many businesses suffer significant losses, especially the ecommerce business. Knowing them will help you mitigate those threats and secure ecommerce websites. Here are the most common cyber risks for an ecommerce website.
- Phishing
It is one of the most common cyber threats to an ecommerce website. The attackers send an email or SMS with links asking you to provide sensitive information like passwords, bank accounts, or credit card numbers. When you click on those links, it takes you to a website that looks similar to your bank or one of your service providers.
- Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attack
Cyber criminals may come in between your customers and website server to steal their data. They eavesdrop to access the private and critical information of the users, such as passwords and payment details. Besides, they can manipulate the information exchanged between the customer and the website server.
- Malware attack
It is another common type of cyber-attack that your ecommerce website may encounter. Criminals may use viruses, spyware, worms, or ransomware to attack your website. A malware attack can lead to erasing data, stealing users’ information, or hacking your website.
- SQL Injections
SQL refers to Structured Query Language, which is used to communicate with the database. In this type of cyber-attack, criminals use malicious codes to access sensitive data stored in your SQL database. They can steal or manipulate those data and misuse them.
- Denial of service (DoS)
As the name states, Denial of Service (DoS) is an attempt to halt services on your website. The attackers spam the website with unusual traffic so your customers can’t access the site.
6 tips to secure ecommerce websites
- Get an SSL certificate to encrypt data
An ecommerce website means there will be thousands of transactions daily as many customers make payments online. So, it is essential to provide them with a secure platform for making payments.
If your website is vulnerable, hackers can target those customers and access their payment details. However, you can prevent it and secure ecommerce website with an SSL certificate for your website.
An SSL or Secure Sockets Layer certificate encrypts users’ data and transforms them into unreadable text. Apart from this, there is another benefit of using an SSL certificate. Google and other search engines give better ranking to the websites with these digital certificates. It does not cost you a lot of money. There are a few websites where you can get a cheap SSL certificate.
- Use an anti-virus
An e-commerce website stores a large volume of data that includes users’ personal and payment details. If your website security is compromised, it will not only damage your reputation, but your customer will lose their trust.
Using anti-virus software is an effective way to secure ecommerce websites. Hackers always have an eye on your website server. They try to detect any vulnerability on your website and take advantage of it. An anti-virus keeps scanning your website regularly to detect any malware, or ransomware and prevent them from accessing the data.
- Ensure strong passwords
The incidents of security breaches due to weak passwords have been growing. It is a concern for the online stores as the login page is open for everyone. Some people use only a few letters or numbers in their passwords which are easy to crack.
Cyber criminals look for vulnerable passwords. So, your employees and customers need to use a complex and unique password to secure ecommerce websites. You should make it mandatory to use a password with a minimum of 12 characters. It should be a combination of upper, and lowercase letters, numbers, symbols, and special characters.
- Keep your website up to date
With new technologies, hackers are getting smarter, and they try to find loopholes in your website. Thankfully, software engineers are always looking for solutions to those security challenges. So, it is essential to install the latest updates to secure an ecommerce website. They come with bug fixes and crucial security patches. You can turn on automatic updates to ensure they get installed without delay.
- Audit your website
Performing regular scans is an excellent way to secure ecommerce websites. It helps you detect any loopholes in the website security and fix them before it is too late.
You can do scanning once every two months. Scanning your website frequently helps you get a better ranking on search engines. Besides, you should ensure your employees comply with the security protocols.
- Back up your website data
You may undertake all the security measures, yet your website can be at risk. Cyber attackers are always busy finding new ways to attack your website.
You never know if your website can face a security threat at any moment. So, it is better to be prepared for the worst and back up the data regularly. Even though it doesn’t help secure ecommerce websites, it is effective in preventing the loss of critical data.
Conclusion:
Ecommerce websites are always the target of cyber attackers because many transactions take place daily, and hackers try to access customers’ personal and payment details. If there is a security lapse on your website, it can affect your business, and you will lose customers’ trust. As the competition is high, it is essential to secure ecommerce websites to stay ahead of your competitors. This article is a guide to help you identify the common threats to your website and the six most crucial tips to secure your website. Besides, you can also take help from a cyber security expert.
