Enhance your e-commerce security issue
This is the era of digital marketing and so we have security issues in e-commerce. This COVID-19 has proved that it is time to go digital. Even if you are an offline business, you need to have an online presence which people can access, and order through. However, this downtime has also revealed the chinks and spams in an otherwise perfect, utopian concept of never having to move from the couch. In this world of internet, privacy is an oxymoron, but e-commerce security doesn’t have to be a myth. At these trying times, fraudster didn’t even think twice phishing people in the name of PM Cares. So, if you believe that your website or online marketplace is away from any security concern, you are making a grave mistake. It not only puts you, your efforts, your brand’s reputation in a tight spot but also compromises confidential information of your customers who have trusted you with their details.
Stay Ahead of E-commerce Security
As we think that we have made technological advancement that puts us ahead of e-commerce security, have a look at the report. It suggests that over 7.9 billion records such as home addresses and credit card details were stolen from several websites across the world- in the not too dim and distant past – but 2019! And it doesn’t stop here. Another Juniper research states that the number of exposed records can go up to 146 billion by 2023!
When people continue to trust an online space enough to insert and save confidential information, the lack of e-commerce security measure is a significant trust breach and betrayal on your part. Moreover, such incidents make most of them out there rightfully hesitant about online shopping.
Whether your online store is an online extension of a mom-and-pop store or a full-fledged marketplace, e-commerce security is paramount and non-negotiable. Any online presence is at risk if proper security precautions aren’t met.
There are six dimensions of e-commerce security issues, which are:
Integrity: Data integrity is a must for e-commerce security throughout its life cycle. Any information shouldn’t be altered or seen by a third-party at any stage of a sales funnel, both at a customer’s and merchant’s end.
Non-repudiation: Repudiation means rejection. Non-repudiation, its opposite, is the acceptance of the terms and conditions (or in simpler terms), or the validity of a transaction. Believe it or not, a customer denying a product after receiving it and not liking it is more common than you think. Similarly, a merchant can also cast suspicion over a purchase if they can’t produce proper information or record of a transaction being made.
Authenticity: It is a two-way street. Both a customer and merchant should know that they are dealing with a real identity so that money or transaction can be exchanged between them safely and securely. It also prevents fraudulent identification. These days its increasing as a major e-commerce security issue.
Confidentiality:Confidentiality is the cornerstone of an e-commerce marketplace. A customer’s data and a website’s details must be away from the prying eyes.
Privacy: A significant threat thwarting the adoption of e-commerce is the lack of privacy. People are afraid of their personal information being seen and sold out to a third party. Merchants, on the other hand, are worried about how to stay ahead of the privacy threats and make their marketplace a haven for customers.
Availability: A digital presence means continuous – a 24/7 and 365-day presence all over the world. It also implies an additional weight of SEO, traffic, online visibility and staying online minus the downtime for maintenance.
While these are the six pillar of the security of an e-commerce marketplace, the threats are immense. And the fact that any laxity on a website’s part or anybody who’s tech-savvy can cause harm. A warning can be domestic, international, internal or external. A disgruntled employee can think of various ways to harm your reputation in the market by writing a few negative reviews on social media or sharing insider secrets. There could be several hackers doing it for fun.
Besides, like in today’s coronavirus’ time, there could be overload on the website- causing it to crash. Power and tech outages due to natural calamities, man-made malware, spoofing, viruses are some of the several ways that could put your online marketplace in jeopardy.
Read about Silence Device of Security Here.
What are the Best Practices to Enhance the Security Issues in E-commerce?
Amidst the growing financial instability, e-commerce companies are also at a growing risk of friendly frauds. A customer can deny receiving a product after making a purchase. The companies also have to fight disruption in the wake of the pandemic as many phishing attacks, coronavirus-themed donation emails are doing rounds in the name of brands and reputable businesses.
Types of security threats e-commerce have to face are:
Before you rush to develop an e-commerce security plan, you need to know what kind of forces you are being pitted against. Read the below article to understand it better:
Poor management: Most of us want to see our names shining up there, pursue a dream or wish to feature in Forbes 13 under 40! But we lack the zeal or passion for following it through. As a result, we have an e-commerce presence that is not adequately maintained, and which, doubles up as an open invitation to the hackers and cyber criminals. A poorly managed website is vulnerable and an easy target for attacks.
Price stealing: The price information can easily be manipulated when it is stored in the HTLM linkup or the cookies. While it is a tactic used on smaller and custom shopping carts or bootstrapped websites with not much technical know-how, it is still prevalent and prevents the order from getting through.
Snowshoe spam: Snowshoe spam is a snowballing problem for the e-commerce marketplaces out there. It is a hit-and-run strategy used to send unsolicited bulk emails. Several IP addresses, fake identities and business names are used to avoid filters and anti-spam laws. It can malign the reputation of a business irreversibly.
Malware and hackers: Trojan, viruses and worms can be difficult to identify and can wreak havoc on the ecosystem. Worms can enter via the internet and infect several machines and system when unleashed into the system. Then, there are hackers with a warped purpose of hacktivism that can hack into your online presence for social causes or not.
Apart from these, e-commerce security issues has to go through the mundane challenges- such as a fired employee, a sneaking insider, faced by traditional business.
Wi-Fi eavesdropping: It is akin to that nosy neighbour who listens in on you when you think you are sitting in a safe, and private space. If the Wi-Fi connection is not encrypted at work, a hacker can steal confidential data ranging from files to password and financial information.
Data manipulation:Some of the prevalent forms of e-commerce threats are IP spoofing, data packet sniffing, and port scanning, where a hacker could use a sniffer. Sniffer isused by a network administrator to troubleshoot the system. Hackers use these data bits to monitor and capture data packets such as credit card information or password. IP spoofing makes it challenging to track the origin of attack as the IP source is masked and inaccurate.
What are the Steps to minimize e-commerce security threats?
Fraud intelligence needs to be embraced proactively. While online shops and businesses are ahead of the crisis in adopting breakthrough means to avert security issues, but anybody with an opportunity and means to technology can catch up. It is why businesses need to have a three-pronged strategy to tackle such security issues.
- Risk assessment: If you know your business well, you could anticipate the assets and liabilities in the foreseeable future. Based on this, you can come up with security policy for customers as well.
- Security Policy: An e-commerce marketplace deals with rampant threats, virtually and physically. Be it the downtime of servers, hacking attempts or an unsatisfied employee- they are everywhere geared up to engulf the. Once you have an outline of the potential threats, you can draft a security policy to handle future threats. Remember, preparedness is the keyword here! Allocate a proper budget for the assessment and implementation of the security strategy.
- Implementation and audit: If you aren’t aware of what to do with the security issues of your e-commerce, hire a digital marketing company to help you with chalk a security plant and schedule monthly maintenance.
Besides these, here are a few things that you could start with now to stonewall your e-commerce website and improve the confidence of your customers in you-
HTTPS Protocols and SSL Certificates Security
HTTPS protocol is a must-have aspect of a payment-enabled e-commerce website. It protects your customers’ confidential information. An e-commerce marketplace would also need SSL certificates to protect the data in transit during the payment. When the customers know that their information is protected, secured and encrypted, they tend to visit and buy more. Moreover, search engines like Google prefer HTTPS protocol in SEO and ranking.
Encryption – Website Secret DATA Security
A padlock in the URL means the world to your user. While it doesn’t intend that the website is secure to use, it shows that the data exchanged between the website and the user is encrypted, preventing any third-party from reading or altering the data.
CVV Verification System
Payment- the dream of every e-commerce owner! You want to make it as quick and easy as possible. So, practice the CVV and address verification system. These systems are simple to integrate and easy to follow. Also, following this standardcan enhance the security of your e-commerce company manifold as cybercriminals can lift credit card number but not the CVV in most chances.
Payment Gateways
It is simple to avoid leaking private financial information of your customers and violating PCI standards. You don’t store it on servers! Customers prefer quick, two-step quick payment to their purchase, and you can facilitate it by using payment gateway channels, which are more equipped to handle such a scenario. By enabling a payment gateway, you can steer clear of any such responsibility as well.
Backups and scanning
Regular maintenance and monitoring of the system is a good habit. Ecommerce should opt for real-time monitoring and response to tackle security threats effectively. Set up an alert for any suspicious activity at each step of transaction and purchase.
Mobile Website Security Management
Don’t leave your mobile website security orphaned and uncared for. Extend fraud intelligence and its techniques, procedures and policies to every online presence you have from social media platforms to micro-websites.
Multi-layered Security
You can’t turn your e-commerce into the Fort Knox, but you can certainly have a firewall as the frontline defence against cyber threats. The CDN or Content Delivery Network enhances the security of your website by a few notches by diversifying the data across the world. This layering up also prevents the onslaught of DDoS attacks.
Conclusion ABout Increasing E-Commerce Security Threats
While the e-commerce security measures, including encryption, and tools are easy to implement and follow, it is the common sense and timely action that as a decision-maker you need first. As a merchant and an owner of an e-commerce marketplace, the onus of protecting customers’ identities and financial information lies on you. Remember, with great power comes great responsibility. Aim for better security protocols, and remove any excuse that stall you from offering a 100 per cent secure online ecosystem to your customers. The best part is you don’t need a fortune to adopt a security strategy for your e-commerce website. Whether you are a bootstrapped startup or an up-and-coming online business, all you need is awareness, right information and tools to avert and prevent cyber-attacks.