Nowadays, more and more customers are choosing online shopping alternatives over traditional shopping methods. Unfortunately, as the eCommerce market grows, so does the risk of cybercrime and security breaches.
If you fail to optimize your eCommerce security, you become vulnerable to these breaches. They expose sensitive customer information, resulting in a loss of sales, customer trust, and brand reputation.
Therefore, in this blog, we will look at the best practices and strategies you can use to reduce online threats and strengthen your eCommerce security. These tactics are quite basic, but they are very critical as they will secure your eCommerce platform to a great extent.
1. Strong Passwords for your Admin Panels and Servers: Use strong passwords and usernames that you change frequently for your admin portals. You can add additional validation rules to your sign-up forms, requiring your users to create more complex, difficult-to-crack passwords. This is accomplished by having them use a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters.
2. Create Unpredictable Admin & Other Usernames: You can improve the security of your website by using a unique username. Potential attackers are more likely to guess the correct username if it is simple. A long username, on the other hand, is more difficult to guess. Moreover, using names or English words will make it easier to guess. Therefore, it is advised to add 3 random characters in the end to make it hard to guess.
Additionally, you should always use unique usernames for each account. Hacking into one of your accounts will not reveal the usernames of your other accounts in this manner.
3. Admin URL Structure: As a security best practice, it is recommended that you use a unique, custom Admin URL instead of the default admin or a common term such as backend. Although it will not directly protect your site from a determined bad actor, it can reduce exposure to scripts that try to gain unauthorized access.
4. Prevent SQL Injection: An SQL injection attack is a type of code injection hack in which a cybercriminal attempts to insert SQL (Structured Query Language) statements into input fields on your inquiry forms.
To prevent a SQL injection from occurring, you must use typed and parameterized database queries.
5. Enable Two-factor Authentication for Admin: Two-factor authentication (2FA), also known as two-step verification or dual-factor authentication, is a security procedure in which users provide two different authentication factors to verify their identity.
2FA requires a user to provide a password as the first factor and a second, distinct element — an easy and most common two-factor authentication is a One-Time Password in email or phone. You can even use a security token or a biometric factor like a fingerprint or facial scan.
Two-factor authentication adds another layer of security to the authentication process by making it more difficult for attackers to gain access to a person’s devices or online accounts. Moreover, even if the victim’s password is compromised, a password alone is insufficient to pass the authentication check.
6. Implement SSL Certificate: An SSL certificate is a digital certificate that verifies the identity of a website and allows for a secure connection. It is a security protocol that establishes an encrypted connection between a web server and a web browser. You must add an SSL certificate to your website in order to safeguard online transactions and keep customer information private and secure.
In a nutshell, SSL protects internet connections by preventing cybercriminals from reading or altering data sent between two systems. When you see a padlock icon next to the URL in the address bar, that means SSL protects the website you are visiting.
7. Ensure Payment Gateway Security: You should never store credit card information on your servers and make sure your payment gateway’s security is not jeopardized. You must receive a Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) accreditation when it comes to eCommerce platforms. PCI compliance ensures that credit card transactions are secure for both the business and the cardholder. It aids in the prevention of both security breaches and identity theft. Consumers are finding it easier to make many of their regular purchases online as technology advances.
8. Regular Back-up of Data: To ensure the safety of your eCommerce website, it is important for you to regularly back up your data. Regular backups ensure that all your essential information is saved, and you are not at risk of losing important details. You can employ various kinds of backup such as :
It is recommended to optimize the backup frequency according to the needs of your business.
All in all, having a secure eCommerce website is extremely important for both your brand and your customers. Every website is a target – but if you take precautions, you can avoid getting affected by malicious users.
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