E-Commerce Website Security: 5 Best Practices to Protect Your Online Store

Security tips to protect your e-commerce business

E-commerce security protects your company’s data and system from cyberattacks and prevents access or use by cybercriminals and malicious bots. It keeps your online business secure and safeguards your consumers’ and business’s private information. 

1. Choose a secure e-commerce platform.

As they say, get the basics right and the rest will fall into place. The first step to building a secure e-commerce website is to use a secure platform. So many open-source and proprietary e-commerce platforms are available that choosing the best one for you can be difficult. No matter which platform you decide to use, though, ensure that it has extensive security measures in place and maintains payment card industry (PCI) compliance. Run PCI scans on your server to validate whether or not you are compliant. [Read related article: Open for Business: 5 Options for Setting Up an Online Store]

Additionally, make sure you are running the latest version of the software. Whenever there is a new patch available, install it immediately. 

2. Implement SSL certificates.

SSL is the de facto standard for securing online transactions. The SSL certificate authenticates the identity of users and encrypts data both on the store and in transit. SSL is essential to establish secure connectivity between the end-user systems and your e-commerce website.

For tech-savvy buyers, the padlock icon and “https” in the address bar are prerequisites for providing their personal details and credit card information. If consumers believe that a vendor is doing everything possible to secure their transactions, they are more likely to do business with it.

3. Consider two-factor authentication.

Stolen or compromised user credentials are a common cause of web security breaches. There are multiple ways to steal or guess valid user credentials and compromise the security of your online store. That is where the need for a proven user authentication mechanism arises; it’s a foundation for securing your online store from hacking attempts.

Many e-commerce sites implement two-factor authentication as an extra layer of security. This is a security process in which a valid user needs to provide two means of identification. One is typically the username/password combo, while the second is usually an autogenerated code sent to the user’s verified cellphone. Hackers might crack the password, but they cannot steal this code, which usually expires after a short duration.

>> Learn more: How Companies Are Detecting Spear Phishing Attacks Using Machine Learning

4. Use a VPN.

When you are dealing with customer data, and financial transactions in particular, you need to be extremely careful on public networks. Data transferred over public networks is vulnerable to interception by malicious users. A virtual private network (VPN) service is useful in such a situation. It gives you an encrypted connection to a secure offsite server, which prevents a third party from getting between you and the server.

If you are concerned about the costs of a traditional VPN service, consider an SSL-based VPN, which is cheaper. OpenVPN is a popular choice, as it offers an open-source, community-based version that you can use for free.

5. Educate your customers and employees.

Users need education on the laws and policies that affect customer data. Educate your clients as well as your workforce on your information security practices. Let them know how you protect customers’ credit card information and what they should do on their end to keep the financial information secure. Highlight your organization’s best practices for data security, and tell them not to disclose sensitive data over email, text or chat.

Your employees must also be trained on the actions necessary to keep customer data safe. Direct them to adhere to mandated security protocols and policies to protect your business from potential legal consequences. 

The importance of security in e-commerce

• Ensures customer data is protected: As an e-commerce business owner, you must ensure all customer data is handled safely and securely. E-commerce security can be a tricky subject, but it is your responsibility to protect your website from being hacked and sensitive customer data from being stolen. 
• Builds trust in your company: Consumers want to work with a business they can trust. When they enter their personal information, like their credit card number or banking details, in a form on your site, they expect it to be protected. If your business is compromised and customer information is exposed, consumers will be less likely to do business with you in the future.
• Saves money from potential breaches: If your site is compromised by hackers, you’ll have to pay to fix the security breach. This can include paying for a forensic investigation, data recovery services and credit monitoring for your customers. 
• Ensures compliance: Your business must also maintain a certain level of security compliance to meet the proper legal standards for an online business. If your company does not adhere to those regulations – such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, which is the standard you must follow when accepting credit card payments – you may be fined or subject to other penalties.

Potential e-commerce security threats

With the proper safeguards in place, you can shield your business and consumers from online threats. Here are a few common threats you should be aware of.

Phishing

Using email, text and even phone calls, hackers try to trick store owners into providing personal information like passwords, banking information and Social Security numbers. They usually pretend to be an organization of authority that’s just “checking” or “updating” information it already has.

It’s never a good idea to give out any kind of sensitive information if you didn’t initiate the interaction. Instead of replying to the email or text or providing any information over the phone, reach out to the organization’s customer support line directly.

Malware and ransomware

Avoid clicking on links or downloading software you’re not familiar with, as these are common doorways to malware and other device- and network-infecting software. Once your system is infected, hackers can restrict you from accessing data within your system and may demand money to restore your access.

Another measure you can take to avoid a crunch like this is to back up your information regularly so that, even if your system is compromised, you can restore your system using your backup. [Read related article: What Is Ransomware?]

SQL injection

An SQL injection is a sneaky tool attackers use to manipulate the back end of your system. This is essentially a data breach, which means they can view private data and operate part of your system without your knowledge.

To avoid this attack, make sure your system is up to date, and consider implementing a web application firewall to help block malicious data.  

Cross-site scripting (XSS)

This is when a hacker inputs harmful code into your company’s webpage. This tactic is used to directly steal from your consumers, as visitors to your website are exposed to malware, phishing, malicious bots and other tactics to steal their information. Consider using a HTTP Content Security Policy to beef up your data security.

E-Skimming

When hackers infiltrate your e-commerce store through phishing, XSS or other attacks, they wait for customers at the checkout page so they can swipe their credit card and personal information. When attackers e-skim, they’re going after all the information on your payment card processing pages.  

To protect the payment page on your website, keep your software updated, change all default credentials to strong passwords, implement multifactor authentication, and segment and segregate networks and functions.

Sean Peek and Simone Johnson contributed to this article.