subject: Secure Your E-commerce Websites [print this page] E-commerce is gaining momentum all over the world with the increased usage of internet. E-commerce means commerce on the web. Any goods and/or services purchased or sold using the Internet falls under the category of e-commerce. The internet is growing fast along with online stores and money transactions. Hackers find vulnerabilities as opportunity to attack websites. They can identify how vulnerable a website is and then use it to their advantage to exploit the security. E-commerce security is an important issue to seriously consider. Only by knowing the functioning methods of these threats, we can save ourselves from them. Every threat should be analyzed to its depth. Taking precaution is the best way to secure businesses from these security threats.
The following are some methods to secure your website:
1. Security at User End
Security at the user end is very important when dealing with online business. It in turn reflects the security of the website. How secure the website is from the customers side is significant. Shoppers must protect themselves from every possible online threat (viruses, trojans, worms, etc.) by installing a proper anti-virus with firewall software. There are plenty of security tools available to secure websites from internet attacks. Avoiding these defending mechanisms would ease up a hackers job to break into a users computer. Hacking includes the viewing or stealing of any sensitive information. Most hackers hack the website for information like passwords and credit card numbers.
2. Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
Secure Socket Layer is an important term connected with e-commerce security. Secure Socket Layer is often referred to as SSL. The duty of the SSL is to encrypt the information from the user end while he enters it on a website. It also protects the information until website's server is reached. SSL certification generally requires yearly subscription which is provided by any government-recognized certificate authority. The web browsers check each and every website they visit for SSL security and provide a warning message for sites which lacks SSL certification.
3. Server Firewall
Server firewall is another major component important to server-side e-commerce security. It is quite similar to a software firewall; it monitors incoming/outgoing internet access requests. If any hacker tries to access a firewall secured server, it will recognize that the internet connection trying to reach the server is not a trusted one and subsequently blocking access from that connection.
4. Passwords
As every one knows, passwords are the first step in the case of security. Password should be set so that only authorized people can access the belongings. The easiest security measure for any e-commerce website is to secure user passwords. With this, users must provide either their email id or a user name along with the password that sticks to a password policy. A password policy can be considered as a set of rules a website uses to ensure passwords are secure. Using longer characters for passwords, wise usage of alpha-numeric characters, avoiding easily guessable passwords etc are the best ways for password protection.
5. Multiple Points of Protection
Though we have multiple options to make our valuable websites secure, it is quite common that people stick with any one good protection security solution. It is not advisable that we rely on only one protection method. The tools of modern age hackers being too sophisticated and option full; best way to keep our website safe is by multiple points of protection. The trust users show on the website is the key for the business and it is important to keep up the standard in every aspect of services to the customers. Any unlawful retrieval of data should not happen. If you own a business, a thorough yearly review of your implemented security measures will always help you remain up to date with protection.
