Don’t Let eCommerce Security Hinder Your Store’s Performance

Instances of cyber crimes have increased dramatically with hackers becoming more sophisticated at targeting online sites. These days, merchants face numerous threats in the form of malware injections, DDoS attacks and automated attacks. So how can a merchant protect his/her eCommerce store? Do you think it’s true that all threats can be prevented if proper measures are taken? Will these security measures affect the site’s performance and the overall customer experience?

 If you’re an eCommerce merchant, join me in finding answers to these questions and exploring few of the most remarkable solutions available to you to protect your online sites without compromising on performance or user experience.

 The Balancing Act of Security and Performance

Choosing a secure eCommerce platform- Launch your eCommerce store on a platform that is based on a sophisticated programming language. A platform that allows the administration panel to be accessible only on internal network and devoid of public facing servers is inaccessible to hackers and other cyber criminals. Additionally, platforms providing secondary authentication feature from internal windows network is also crucial in keeping your online store secure. 

Using secure connection for online checkout- Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to authenticate and encrypt the data in transit. Authentication protects customers from getting their sensitive financial information stolen, as well as keeps your business data secure. Integrating Extended Validation Secure Sockets Layer (EV SSL), URL green bar and SSL security seal lets customers know that your online store is safe.

 Don’t ever store sensitive data- Keeping records of sensitive information like credit card numbers, CVV codes, etc., is forbidden by PCI standards. Hence, it is recommended that such old databases containing sensitive information must be purged and only a minimum data can be kept in database of those relating to refunds, etc.

 Requiring strong passwords- Yes, that’s right! It’s the duty of the merchant to keep customers information secure, but even merchants can help their customers from online frauds by asking for a minimum number of symbols, characters, etc., while setting a password. Complex login passwords make it hard for criminals to make data breaches.

 Setting up system alerts- Setting alarm notification can help you know about suspicious transactions being generated from a particular IP address. Similarly setting up system alerts can help you know about the person placing multiple orders using various credit cards, especially when recipient is different from card holder’s name.

 Layering your security- Firewalls are basics when it comes to stopping cyber crimes. Adding extra layers of security to your eCommerce site such as login boxes, contact forms, etc., ensures protection from application level attacks like SQL injections, etc. 

 Monitoring your eCommerce site regularly- Make sure that your eCommerce site hosting partner regularly scrutinize their servers for viruses, malwares, etc.

 Performing regular PCI scans- Quarterly PCI scans should be performed to lessen the risk of your eCommerce site being hacked. eCommerce merchants using third-party software like Magento, Bigcommerce, Shopify, etc., must always update their stores to newer versions having security enhancements.

 These and many more solutions are now available to eCommerce merchants these days, which can help them in effectively protecting their online stores from getting hacked by cyber criminals, no matter how sophisticated they might be. So, don’t hold back, keep it safe without compromising on the performance.

 Gear up to an eCommerce store experience that is hacker free!