Having an e-commerce business that operates exclusively online may appear on the surface to be quite a safe practice – there’s no chance of somebody running out of your website with a bag full of stolen products, it might seem. However, the risks that any normal retail store might face do not simply disappear when you start to do business on the internet, as they are simply converted to suit the new platform and in fact, the problems you might face could be even greater in both total numbers and their severity. Staying secure online requires commitment and effort, but failing to take extra steps to protect yourself and your customers can easily cause you to lose everything, and even face a criminal conviction for your responsibility in not protecting data if it ever gets comprised. So, if you want to know more about what you can to improve the safety of your e-commerce company, then read on to uncover some of the best top tips that you can implement today!
A Secure Payment Service
The riskiest part of the customers dealings with your online business is the final step of their order, when they come to pay. Failing to provide your customers with the most secure payment system yet will immediately open you up so many problems that might otherwise be avoided, as there are a wealth of dedicated programs that can encrypt their data amongst other security measures to ensure it cannot be intercepted and used maliciously. A hosted checkout account can be a really smart idea, as they contain extra safety features to keep personal information out of the hands of those who may do wrong. If your customers can immediately recognise the payment services that you are providing, they are much more likely to trust your business and make a purchase, rather than trying to create your own software that cannot come close to the standards of established organisations.
The Safest Data Storage
The way in which you store all of the data you collect can either make or break your business. Doing something as silly as keeping personal information on the cloud or within any other insecure network will no doubt cause your company to go into meltdown whenever a hacker or virus happens to find out. You must do everything you can to keep data safe at all times, as being compromised and having any kind of leak or unauthorised access could cause something as serious as identity fraud or theft from the bank accounts of your loyal customers. Encryption is a vital step to increase security, but you cannot stop there – firewalls, virus scanners and much more must be utilised to stay as safe as you can against the ever adapting world of online crime.
In-House Rules & Recommendations
Safety is also impacted upon by your working practices in the office or any other workplace, and all of your staff are responsible for keeping security at the highest level. First of all, you must ensure that your staff practice positive computer etiquette by creating the strongest password combinations of lowercase and uppercase letters along with numbers and special characters, and these must be updated on a regular basis to avoid the chances of them being cracked. Emails are a haven of negative activity, so you must teach the importance of staying safe by not responding to messages from senders you do not recognise, and never open any attachments that are not sent directly from another colleague as the risks can be extremely high. No outside activities should be performed on office computers, as only work related sites should be accessed to ensure that you can reduce your chances of gaining a nasty virus from an untrusted platform.
Keeping your e-commerce business as secure as possible is a never ending battle, as criminals are always evolving and adapting at such a fast rate, and this means you have to follow suit. Fortunately, implementing the steps above can aid you in laying the right foundations for the ultimate safety of your online company, as these simple ground rules can aid in eradicating some of the biggest risks. Start of by installing the most secure payment system you can find, as it would be a terrible situation if your customers personal information were to be compromised during their checkout. Store data in the secure at way possible by using high level encryption and firewalls, and implement some in house rules that your staff can follow to make sure that you can reduce risks from the very first level of activity.