What is common between Adidas, Shopify and Mercari? They are all the victims of data breaches. Studies reveal that 60% of small businesses that face cyber threats completely disappear from the market. But you can make your e-business fraud-proof. Explore our blog to discover the 10 best well-accepted practices to build a safe eCommerce platform.
The eCommerce industry, while booming, has one gloomy side, too. Global eCommerce businesses are prime targets of potential cyber frauds. Reason? Their inherent practice of storing customers’ sensitive information on their servers.
Data states that by the end of 2023, e-commerce fraud might cost the retail sector $48 billion globally. Similarly, the e-commerce fraud detection and prevention market will also surpass $100 billion by 2027. The reasons are quite obvious.
eCommerce platform security is essential for preserving the personal and financial data of customers. Losing this information can harm a business dearly. The affected e-business may lose its market reputation, business, and customer trust fully.
So, an eCommerce business – small or big, needs to ask itself: How secure is their eCommerce platform for their customers? What are those necessary preventive measures that can make their platform fraud-proof? Let’s explore these questions in upcoming sections of this blog.
What is eCommerce Security?
eCommerce security is a globally accepted practice that safely ensures online transaction processing. These practices save eCommerce ventures and their customers from potential data breaches.
Real-World Examples of Data Breaches to Large Enterprise Companies
Spam, Phishing, SQL Injections, and eSkimming are examples of cyberattacks. These threats can hit any eCommerce business, irrespective of its size. While big online platforms can bear cyber attacks, small companies can be entirely wiped out from the digital landscape.
Here are some real-life examples of previous eCommerce attacks:
- Mercari – It is a Japanese eCommerce company that reported a significant data breach in 2021
- Shopify – a well-known website builder company, also reported a data breach in 2020
- In 2018, Adidas also confirmed being the victim of cyber fraud
Do these examples tell us something?
None of these eCommerce businesses are cybercrime-proof till they add robust security settings.
Cybersecurity Steps to Protect eCommerce Business
To safeguard your eCommerce platform, you must build a solid cybersecurity framework. This approach will save your business’ goodwill and client database from potential risks. Let’s get to know them better:
Using SSL Certificates
An SSL certificate is more than just a buzzword—it’s a seal of trust. SSL certificates encrypt the communication between customers and servers. Ensuring information exchange stays confidential between shoppers and e-commerce platforms.
Securing a reliable SSL certificate costs little. E-commerce businesses of any size can buy cheap RapidSSL certificates. This cheap RapidSSL reduces the risks of phishing and data breaches. Besides, RapidSSL teams also assist in implementing SSL and HTTPS settings on your website. And the Outcome? Your customers experience a positive and safe user experience.
Use of Firewalls
Secure network and application firewalls are the first line of defense during cyber attacks. Firewalls regulate incoming traffic to the websites. It identifies dangerous data such as malware, SQL injections, spam, and XSS. And stops them from connecting to the ecommerce platform’s server. This way, it detects and prevents possible anomalies from striking the network.
Anti-virus and Anti-malware Software
Cybercriminals can use stolen credit card data for online shopping on your ecommerce platform. This puts your online platform at risk for conducting fraudulent activity.
Anti-virus and anti-malware software can save your website from getting involved in fraudulent activities. Anti-virus or anti-malware software uses sophisticated algorithms. These algorithms track the legitimacy of online transactions. Using their judgments, they classify traffic into safe and malicious categories.
Regular Staff Training Regarding Ongoing Cyber Threats
You must train your staff about potential cyber and social engineering attacks. Make your staff aware of the consequences of tampering with customer data. Besides, you can also invoke employee access after office hours and on holidays.
Employees are stakeholders, so they are at a vulnerable end. They can easily become a cause of customer data theft. Thus, companies must test their vulnerabilities to check the possibility of being the victim of phishing attacks.
Educate Your Clients
Customers’ behavior can also be a cause of cyber attacks. Customers often use easy passwords that hackers crack with ease. So, you can guide your customers to keep robust passwords, combining numbers, letters, and symbols.
Besides, you can keep clients informed about safe and secure online practices. Many online businesses regularly inform their customers through emails and notifications about it.
Keep Everything Up To Date
Many WordPress websites use weak themes and outdated plugins. Outdated software poses a safety challenge. Any hacker can crack into your website through these outdated plugins.
Therefore, businesses must keep their plugins updated. This practice can save their and their customer’s data from futuristic breaches.
Multi-layer security
This step is simple yet effective. You can think of multi-layer security as the protective layers of an onion. Just as peeling one layer doesn’t give access to the onion’s core, similarly, bypassing one security layer doesn’t expose your system’s heart. Each layer will create another hurdle for potential attackers.
The Content Delivery Network (CDN) acts like a critical shield. CDNs use machine learning to fend off threats and dodge harmful traffic. Then, there’s the added safety step of multifactor authentication. It’s like a digital handshake, where customers follow more steps to process online transactions. They confirm their identity with an extra code they receive through a text, email, or an app. It’s like double-checking before letting someone in.
AI/ML-focused innovations
AI/ML technologies can assure robust security and enhanced customer servicing. AI/ML technologies use NLP functionalities to scan chats, non-textual data, and emails. It successfully detects potential threat behaviors like phishing during online transactions.
AI/ML technologies act in two ways. First, they automate the fraud detection process. And at the same time, they also put across effective measures to eradicate threats. AI solutions develop practical threat intelligence, which rules out further security ramifications.
Contactless Payments
UPI transactions like Apple Wallet, Google Pay, and Paytm are contactless payments. These transactions are fast and offer stringent security measures. It uses a tokenization method to mask actual account details with a one-time password called OTP, ensuring safety even if intercepted.
Contactless transactions use end-to-end encryption device-specific keys that are unique OTP (one-time passwords) to process the online transactions. OTPs are the extension of near-field communications (NFC). These biometric passwords limit potential risks by notifying customers with real-time alerts.
Choose Secure Hosting
60% of small businesses that face cyber attacks soon get out of business. Website hosting services secure website data on its servers. Small eCommerce ventures opt for random and poor website hosting services. Result? They face many online data thefts and easy security breaches on their website. This way, they risk their public image and client’s sensitive information. Therefore, if you have an eCommerce business, you must use a reliable web hosting server.
Final Words
Your ecommerce store is a legacy. It is more than the invested capital as it is an outcome of hard work, aspirations, and customer trust. So, by following simple steps like using a cheap RapidSSL certificate, secure hosting, or multi-layer authentication. You can strengthen your cybersecurity to safeguard your e-business’s digital assets. And yes, customer trust and ever-lasting success will come on its own.