4 Powerful Website Security Guide For E-commerce Retailers

If you owned a store in the local shopping center what would be the level of security you would have in place? You would more than likely have alarm systems, CCTV cameras, secure doors with the best lock available.

Most of these are visible security measures people understand and relate to the most. However, if you are an online retailer, you will not be dealing with the traditional shoplifters. You will be up against some highly sophisticated hackers who typically have the upper hand.
When it comes to hackers, it is vital you understand website security for your E-commerce site because their knowledge of online stores and their weaknesses place them ahead of the game. Simply put, they are continuously searching for areas to exploit.

However, these type of thieves is after more than just some items they can sell on the black market. They are after the most vital valuable to your business—your data. Whether that be your customer’s ID or credit and debit information, your business and E-commerce store development is high risk.

The time to start is now if you are not taking the proper actions to secure the above information before you lose everything you have worked hard to gain. The following tips will help you protect your business and your website from thieves who aim to steal all they can.

Image Credit : Pixabay

Choosing E-commerce Hosting

If you are like most businesses, you have probably made huge investments in your website. Designing, developing, optimizing, and marketing is expensive. However, by having a cheap hosting option, are you risking it all? 

Website owners should feel spoiled for the choices they have in e-commerce hosting providers. However, do not be swayed by the promises of the cheap hosting. Many times, it is a false pretense of excellent service for less money.

The truth is, it is like having a race car stocked with bicycle wheels. Speed will not be the best virtue. If you are using a shared hosting service with thousands of other sites, you could very well wind up being in the “noisy neighborhood.” Moreover, who likes noisy neighbors?

A trustworthy host will provide you with managed servers with security included.

Switch to HTTPS

Utilizing secure HTTPS hosting with an SSL Certificate was typically saved for the payment section of a site until recently. That is precisely still the case. However, website owners are gradually shifting to securing their website as a whole.

One of the initial significant drivers of this happened in 2014 when Google stated they were tightening up on security and starting to include HTTPS as a ranking influence. One other factor that contributed to the shift was the announcement that all browsers are beginning to penalize HTTP websites. 

Googled stated in 2014 their teams established long-term policies to assess all HTTP sites as non-secure. In 2015, Mozilla stated something similar. You will need to pick an SSL Certificate if you want to change to HTTP. A reputable SSL vendor or your hosting company is where you can make your purchase.

Generally, they will assist with the installation of the SSL Certification. However, you will need to go through several steps to make the switch to your site to HTTPS. Three of these steps are:

• Updating internal link to your website
• Establishing a 301 redirect
• Updating links in transactional emails

In general, the necessary price of admission for online security these days is using an SSL Certificate. As browsers continue to tackle HTTP sites and take action, it seems it will become more important.

Choose A Secure Platform and Keep It Secure

These days, there are tons of E-commerce platforms you can choose from no matter the size of your business. Be sure that when you select an E-commerce platform that it has an excellent reputation for security, updates itself often and performs up to your standards.

The most popular E-commerce platforms are PrestaShop, WooCommerce, and Magento. However, being popular comes with a steep price. Hackers are continuously searching for the weak areas in these tools. Therefore, security updates and patches are available consistently.

The main point of this is, do not assume that when you take your site to live that it does not need updating or maintenance. Also, keep in mind that it is not your web hosting company, designer, or developers responsibility to make those updates and maintenance. 

You need to make sure that if you are not a tech person that someone on your team, whether that be a partner, supplier, or internal has your back. Because in the end, it is your responsibility for the security of your website.

You will want to stay on top of your software providers website to check for updates. Also, be sure to confirm that your site is receiving these vital updates. The best choice is to utilize an inclusive E-commerce security platform that will check your vendor’s website to ensure you are running the latest version while protecting the leading vulnerabilities.

Secure Your Admin Area

One of the cheapest and easiest techniques to improve the security of your website is to protect the backend. If you use a standard E-commerce platform such as WooCommerce or Magento, you will have a default admin area setting.

Changing this one thing can assist in preventing lazy hackers searching for easy prey. One vital detail is to be sure you change the username of the administrator. Because hackers are searching for simple targets-if, you use names such as “admin” you are a sitting duck. Make your credentials challenging to crack and original.

Also, set up a whitelist of IP addresses that your server administrator has control of so that you can restrict the admin area. That makes access to the area restricted to only known IP addresses.

Security for your E-commerce business is not free. However, it is much cheaper than getting hacked. In the end, there is no single solution to making your E-commerce secure and sound. The ideal answer is one that takes into account the best choice for hosting platform and software and keeping everything secure and up-to-date

However, also be prepared for bad news and always keep our site automatically backed up. These suggestions are just the tip of the iceberg. When it comes to security, you have a general idea of what it takes to stay on top.

Be sure to read more on the topic so that you get a better idea of the basics of and website security for your E-commerce business.