Maintaining an e-commerce website can be both rewarding and tedious at the same time. Therefore, you should always need to put that extra emphasis on security measures when coming to e-commerce website security.
Before going further, you should know that cyber-attacks are on the rise these days. Regardless of the size of the company, cyber hackers and intruders constantly invade the website to steal the data, customer information and inject the spam to the existing data files and links.
So, whenever you plan about an e-commerce business, you should focus on rising cyber threats and apply tips to avert such threats.
In this article, we will make you walk through the e-commerce cybersecurity threats and the possible ways to protect the website.
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The Biggest Security Threats to Your Ecommerce Site
Here are the standard techniques used in a Cyberattack, and you will have a clear understanding of preventive measures. However, the best way to get prepared is to know all the ways out and the quick, proactive steps to avoid the attacks in the first place.
Phishing
The most common cyber-attack is Phishing. However, Phishing has many forms. The most common practice is trying to get control of the system through passwords or by stealing personal information.
In this kind of Phishing attack, the attacker sends emails very similar to the originals and pretends to be a partner company, web providers, or a sister company. Often, you will be asked to click on links which are the fake versions of the originals. Thus, by clicking the links, you fall in the trap and give the usernames and passwords.
Social Engineering
This is the latest trend in cybersecurity, and it is an art of manipulating the employees on the psychological front than on technical terms to gain the system access.
However, social engineering is of many forms like it could be a call claiming that the person is a client or a customer wanting to make changes to a software security program or an order.
On the other hand, the attacker will make a call and claim to be from Microsoft or the CMS and may pressurize you to give the accessibility details. Then it is time you should act smart and take the advice from the cybersecurity management if the company.
Code Injection
Code Injection is a hacking technique where the hackers will look for the vulnerabilities of your website and the software code. To keep it brief, it is a process of injecting malicious code into your website.
As a result, the attacker in the backend corrupts the databases and the files. It contains malicious codes that gain access to personal information and credit card information.
Software Subversion
Software subversion is a trick where the attacker steals the bank details while checking out the cart. It involves a code where the software and the respective plug-ins are compromised.
One of the famous software subversions example is the Magecart attack. The hackers will inject the JavaScript codes into the checkout and the cart pages. So, when the customer is done with the shopping and proceeds for the payment, the script then steals all the private information including the credit card information, address and the contact information.
Tips to Keep Your E-commerce Site Secure
There is no rule book to keep a website neat and clean. It has a disciplined flowchart which consists of proactive steps and a checklist to follow.
Your website security depends on the technical aspects that the company should leverage to protect the privacy of the website. Here are steps for some amazing practical approach:
Monitor Systems
It is essential to keep the web servers and the software either manually or through automatic updates. A constant eye on web traffic will help you to identify the hackers. These could solve the unauthorized activities or any unusual behaviours before they blow out your website.
Encrypt Web Traffic
As an e-commerce business owner, you should have installed an SSL certificate. SSL is not a big deal. You can purchase SSL at cheap price from the reputed SSL provider.
To put in simple words, encrypting a website is to convert from HTTP to HTTPS. If you buy SSL certificate, you can rest assured as it protects the user credit card details and other credentials.
On the other hand, Google has made it mandatory to install an SSL certificate as it will improve ranking. Using HTTPS increases the Google search engine rank pages, thus increasing productivity too.
Penetration Testing
Penetrating testing is one of the best methods to secure the website. It involves the process where all the devices, networks, and computers are checked for the vulnerabilities.
This way, you will have a clear idea of what are the website security needs and the things you should improve. Taking a penetration test is helpful as it gives a picture of how well maintained and secured your website is.
Manage User Permissions
The other crucial tip is to limit user access and permissions. At times you may feel it is fine to give all the access rights to every employee in the company. But, in the real scene, it is just the opposite.
Make sure a dedicated team has fully controlled access to all the accounts and the systems. This way, cybersecurity can be improved to a great extent. It is essential to manage user permissions to avoid any data breaches. If we take an example of a cyber-attack on the Ticket fly website where full access has given to employees, the whole site falls under the trap. The criminals were successful by stealing the information of 26 million customers just like that.
Conclusion
As discussed in the above tips, every e-commerce business organization should invest in cybersecurity to ensure that the website is fully protected. To start with, you should buy SSL certificate and get it installed as this is a primary step towards a secure connection.
Each day the cybercriminals try new ways out to invade into your systems. The main aim is to be alert and active all the time to notice for any unusual signals.
This article will surely guide you to take appropriate steps to maintain your business. No matter what the size of the company is, it would help if you incorporated high security and preventive measures to save your e-commerce business.
Also Read: 5 Simple Ways To Detect a Fake/Scam Website
