The expansion of the internet has made selling goods and services online much easier. You can easily share your talents or products with customers all over the world. But despite the ease of selling, e-commerce comes with some risks also. Here are six tips to make sure that you can protect your security and safeguard your customers’ personal information.
1. Use The Right Kind Of Site
Since buying and selling require passing a lot of personal information back and forth, it is imperative that you operate from a secure website. You need to enable HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) in order to help ensure that no information can be stolen. Customers will be trusting you with their credit card information and personal data so it is necessary that you provide a secure site to do so. To make your site HTTPS, you’ll need to obtain an SSL certificate, so be sure to research the best options for your business.
2. Invest In Security
Protecting your website and your customers will include having specific programs that can secure information and identify users. Investing in a good quality identity proofing solution will help ensure that only valid customers have access to your systems. You should also make sure that the computer you use to fulfill orders and access your website is fully protected. Install an antivirus program that can prevent viruses, malware and cyber-attacks.
3. Choose The Right Platform
Selecting the right web hosting platform is key to protecting yourself and your customers. Often sellers put a lot of consideration into the design and functionality options offered, but security needs to be considered as well. Make sure you do a lot of research before selecting your platform to make sure that it works for the goals of your business. Consider the future growth of your business as well. You want to be able to build up your website as your company grows while still being able to maximize security.
4. Don’t Store Sensitive Information
Nothing will ruin your company’s reputation faster than a security breach. To protect your customers’ data against hacking, phishing, and other attacks, you will want to avoid saving any information you don’t need. Only ask for information that is absolutely necessary to complete the transaction. Payment details should only be stored long enough to secure payment and should never be stored on online servers. Any data that you do need to save should be completely encrypted and only stored for as long as it is needed.
5. Protect Passwords
Make sure that you practice good password security for your own passwords and also promote this for your customers. If your website allows customers to set up a login, be sure to require a strong password.
You should have complex password rules, such as requiring a special character or for the password to be alpha-numeric. You may also want to consider a multi-factor identification system that will offer even greater security. This involves having your customer verify additional personal information in addition to a password. This will make it much more difficult for those with nefarious intentions to access your customers’ personal data.
6. Be Vigilant
The biggest key to keeping your website safe is to constantly monitor it. Since there are always new threats developing online, it is extremely important to continue to upgrade and make changes to ensure security. You’ll need to be creative and vigilant to make sure that you are staying on top of changes while also making things as seamless as possible for your customers. Your buyers want their information to be protected, but they also prefer not to be inconvenienced by it. If you don’t have the time or resources to invest in constant upgrades, be sure to utilize a professional service, or consider security offered by your hosting platform.
Doing business online requires a lot of planning. Offering your customers the most secure, convenient experience is key to creating lifelong relationships. Following these tips will help you offer the best possible website.
