Hackers and scammers prey on new businesses and established online superstores alike, and the round-the-clock security required to keep e-commerce websites safe may seem daunting and expensive for new startups and small businesses moving online. Many options exist for protecting your site against these persistent and ever-changing threats. Determining how safe your e-commerce site really is provides the springboard to successfully mitigating these threats.
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Hackers Want In
Hackers of all stripes seek to test themselves against security countermeasures businesses put in place. Whether their goals are simply to practice coding skills and test tools and tricks they found online or far more malicious may not matter if their intrusions become a black mark on your company’s name. The risks of hacking range from negligible to deadly serious, with even major organizations like Sony and HBO facing threats from organized teams.
Protect your website first and foremost by choosing a quality hosting site and enabling Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption. These two simple tasks can help your site ward off many would-be hackers. Remember that hackers look to exploit any vulnerabilities on the site. Secure database access, including those for online forms and forums. Ensure that all employees understand that vigilance is the best defense against intrusion. A found USB drive or a seemingly innocuous downloadable file is all it takes to circumvent some of the best available security.
Securing Sensitive Information
SSL encryption goes a long way towards protecting sensitive information, but it can fail to prevent some of the more insidious hacking and social engineering methods out there. Employees must keep their passwords up to date and follow best-practice guidelines for handling personally identifiable information, or PII. Companies that process credit cards also have legal and ethical challenges to address, as compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is mandatory for any organization handling cardholder data.
Consider outsourcing payments and merchant accounts to a legitimate e-commerce credit card processing company, unless your organization is ready to shoulder the expense of PCI compliance training and implementation. This limits exposure to lawsuits and can help protect against claims of fraudulent card use or damaging leaks. Social engineering scammers, those who rely on convincing employees to violate guidelines or otherwise divulge PII, regularly target customer service workers and managers. Make sure that everyone working directly with the public understands the risks of social engineering and safeguards PII as if the company’s life depends on it.
What About Your Brand?
As your company develops into a successful e-commerce business, and especially if the organization manufactures its own goods, you’ll likely encounter threats to brand security. Brandjacking includes not only making counterfeit goods but also stealing goods from the supply chain and reassembling them without the logos or labels that make them identifiable. Fake sites that capitalize on misspelled website addresses similar to those of your company or with different top-level domains (.com, .us, etc.) are also a threat. This means that any link in the logistics or delivery processes could pose the risk of competition, theft or other harm to your brand.
Consider purchasing similar or slightly misspelled versions of your domain name and redirecting them to your site. Watch for counterfeit products in markets where you do not have agreements with distributors. A simple Google search for your brand name may return information on where and how it is being misused. Note any lost or damaged shipments, and investigate whenever discernible patterns emerge. Google offers a free alert service for online resources, letting you know when your brand appears in new places. Subscribe to this service and check regularly for sites selling identical merchandise under other names or with no branding at all.
Companies don’t have to invest a large percentage of their revenues into security, but taking a few simple steps to secure data and help prevent scams can save thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars over time. Keep network access safe with proper passwords and regular system updates, and train employees to spot social engineering attempts or potentially malicious files. Use a third-party payment service or engage in full PCI compliance to ensure your customers’ card information remains safe. Customer trust is as valuable as any commodity online, and maintaining that trust is paramount for success in the e-commerce world.
