Is your eCommerce site secure? If you’re an eCommerce website design services provider, you’re probably aware of the particularly troublesome threats to your online store’s security.

Hacking and data breaches are fairly common in the eCommerce industry, posing a huge threat to an eCommerce app development company. Also, if there’s a breaching issue that isn’t properly dealt with, you’re at risk of losing your site and your customer’s data, which is why security poses a real challenge when you create an e-commerce website. Fortunately, there are several ways you can secure your eCommerce site, and this post aims to elaborate more on what your web application development company should care about.

Choose a Secure E-commerce Platform

If you are utilizing a website builder to secure your website, a lot of these eCommerce security features would have to be built-in.

Keep in mind that not all platforms are built the same. Some platforms offer dedicated servers with an excellent capacity, so you are better protected from these online threats and DDoS attacks.

Other platforms are simply made better than others, offering relatively fewer vulnerabilities, and patches are issued regularly.

So, shop around for various website providers and pick a hosting provider that offers built-in features that would keep your eCommerce site secure. Also, check out what level of security they offer.

Choosing the right eCommerce platform will protect you from these threats, like injections, malware infections, DDoS attacks, zero-day exploits, cross-site scripting, and a lot more.

Make Sure Your Site Is Always Updated

When website builders, apps, and hosting providers roll out new updates, it is usually because they want to counter known threats, like software bugs that exploit your website’s vulnerability.

If you do not have a great eCommerce website security and keep all your systems and apps up-to-date, you are making your online store and customers vulnerable to threats. This is something an eCommerce app development company should care about.

Most website updates are designed to put a stop on zero-day attacks and other kinds of malware. They also protect your site from other known threats that would end up compromising customer data.

So, it is crucial to pay attention to any software updates. You could also turn on the updates automatically so that you don’t have to think about it constantly. This also decreases the possibility of having a delay on these updates, or for a human error to occur.

Switch to HTTPS Immediately

HTPPS is now the standard for online security, and eCommerce sites that still go by with the HTTP protocol could end up facing the consequences.

People started making a shift to HTTPS to ensure that their payment areas are safe, as well as their website as a whole. So, your site’s security is more than just protecting your payment information. It is also protecting your confidential customer data.

The main reason a lot of people are switching to HTTPS is that because Google announced that they consider HTTPS as a search engine ranking factor. Apart from that, multiple browsers also stated that sites without the security protocol would be penalized.

When you switch to an HTPPS server, browsers will also show “Secure” text with a green lock in the location of the URL. This small text can go a long way in shoppers’ minds, especially those that are looking for a site with credible security.

Without the secure green text, it also does come with a warning that your site poses a potential threat to visitors. There are even some sites that have a browser block. Meaning, the browser would not let people access the page because it can cause a threat in security. This is something that a web application development company needs to keep in mind.

Just imagine what it will do to your bounce rate!

Proactively Monitor Your Website Activity

There are various online tools and apps out there that would allow you to monitor how other users are accessing your site. Take Google Analytics, for example.

Search for a security monitoring tool that lets you scan your website, at least once a day, for any suspicious attacks.

Once you are steadily on the lookout for your site, you will instantly know if someone tries to launch a cyberattack or any suspicious activity like a random user trying to log in a couple of times.

By regularly monitoring your eCommerce site, you could prevent any threats from happening. For instance, you would be able to sense the beginning of a DDoS attack before it fully blows out of proportion, as well as prevent any brute-force attacks.

Moreover, your eCommerce app development company could respond appropriately to attacks that are related to malware, cross-site scripting, and so on.

Patch Your System

By updating your platform and software, you are ensuring your online store’s security. If you do not patch your system, you are exposing hackers to your vulnerabilities and letting them exploit it.

Remember that breaches in websites all have something in common. They all are running old versions of software and code.

Perform Regular Backups

Make sure that you perform regular backups as well. If ever a hacking incident happens, you could still retrieve your website’s backup from your host and restore your website.

Make sure that your web hosting provider also offers an automatic backup service should you forget how to backup your site manually.

Don’t Store Sensitive User Data

Your customers’ privacy and other personal data should be regarded with the utmost importance, and you should employ several steps to keep it private and safe.

You need your customers’ data to enhance your offering and make it easy to encourage repeat purchases. But the thing is, phishing, hacking, and all kinds of cyber attacks could target your users’ sensitive information.

That’s why you should adopt the rule of collecting only the necessary information from your customers.

Avoid the temptation of collecting more customer data than what is needed. Doing so avoids inconveniencing your clients, with the possibility of losing that data to a hack or a data breach.

There’s nothing more humiliating than having to send emails to your customers, explaining to them that you lost their most important personal and financial data.

Most hackers and cybercriminals would not steal stuff that is not there. So, if you have to store particular information, ensure that it is protected with a secure online storage repository that uses the best practices to keep all information safe. It should have stringent access to controls, does audits regularly, and complete data encryption.

Use Multi-Layered Security

While there is not a single way, you could ensure that your site is kept secure forever, you could still use different layers of security to make your site more difficult for hackers.

  • Create a firewall. A firewall acts as a barrier between trusted and untrusted networks, controlling the incoming and outgoing traffic. Think of it as a protective layer around your site, keeping the good guys’ win and the bad guys out.
  • Improve your Content Delivery Network (CDN). Your CDN has several servers which store copies on your website’s pages. They are designed to recognize any kind of malicious traffic that could potentially harm your site. It also prevents DDoS attacks.

Require Stronger Passwords

Make longer passwords by making use of numbers and other symbols. Creating longer and more complex logins make it difficult for malicious individuals to breach your eCommerce website.

You should not share your passwords as well, and you should change it at least once a month.

Final Thoughts

So there you have it. Follow the tips that we have mentioned above, and you will have a more secure site. That way, you could protect your eCommerce business, your customers, as well as your revenue.

Having more doubts regarding securing your eCommerce website? Feel free to contact us, the leading eCommerce website design services provider and website design company. We are a web application development company specialized and experienced in providing eCommerce website design services around the globe. Secure your eCommerce website and give your business a leading edge.