eCommerce is huge today. After all, who wouldn’t like to shop from the convenience of their couch and get goods delivered to their doorstep? However, as the owner of an e-commerce portal, there are a lot of things that need to be done in order to win over the confidence of your users.
As an owner of an e-commerce website, Canada Hustle experts say that you’re viewed as a goose that lays golden eggs. This is because you handle the credit card information of hundreds of thousands of users from across the globe. Eavesdroppers are always looking for a chance to steal all their personal information and exploit it. Hackers achieve this by either intercepting messages between consumers and your website or by gaining unauthorized access into your network and infecting it with malware.
User experience plays a pivotal experience in the success of an e-commerce website. According to a study conducted by the Aberdeen Group, 57 percent of users abandon a web page in case the page load time exceeds 3 seconds. On the other hand, 80 percent users do not return to the website after a bad experience. eCommerce sales success depends on different factors.
When it comes to e-commerce, a great deal of priority should be given to securing the website and keeping hackers at bay. Here is a list of the 6 essential requirements the e-commerce platforms need to follow:
1. Use SSL certificates and ensure PCI compliance:
Any merchant or an e-commerce website that processes debit card or credit card payments need to comply with the guidelines that are laid down under the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). In order to be in compliance with these guidelines, you would have to guarantee protection for the cardholder’s personal information, in addition to implementing highly secure access control measures.
Even if making use of secure payment gateways, you’d still be dealing with loads of customer data, which should be in compliance with PCI. Also, stronger SSL authentication should be implemented that would ensure secure communication between your server and customers.
2. Avoid clinging onto customer data:
Under the guidelines issued by the PCI, storing information such as credit card numbers, CVV numbers and expiration dates is forbidden. Security experts believe, it is essential to eliminate records of old customers and maintain a relatively smaller amount of data that would come in handy in case of returns or refunds.
3. Maintain a multi-layer security protocol:
Internet security experts believe that having multiple layers of security is a major obstacle that keeps hackers away. In order to achieve this, you’d need to have a basic firewall to restrict unauthorized into the network, followed by layers of security at each level – contact forms, login passwords and search queries, among others.
4. Ensure DDoS protection:
Distributed denial of service attacks are not only getting highly sophisticated but are also growing in number. In response to this, companies can opt for cloud-based services that eliminate unwanted traffic. In addition to this, a cloud-based system would ensure 100 percent DNS resolution to your online business, which would boost availability of the system for server-customer communication.
5. Use Trust Seals:
These images give your users a sense of authenticity by ensuring that your website has met certain safety standards. This would certainly have a positive impact on your conversation rate as well as traffic. For instance, if you’re using an enhanced verification SSL, it would allow you to display a seal of trust, thereby telling visitors that it is safe doing business with you. There are several other such standards with seals. If you’re meeting these standards, why not let your customers know about it?
6. Use penetration testing:
If you’re always using your website from your own network, you’ll never notice any vulnerability. In the world of network security, people that try to hack in networks are called “black hat hackers.” In order to access loopholes in your website, it is essential that you make the good guys, known as “white hats,” perform the same activities that are performed by hackers.
The entire process is known as network penetration testing or pentesting. These professionals would try to bypass network security protocols and determine where the infrastructure can be compromised. The responsibility of these good guys is to find these vulnerabilities before hackers can exploit them.
Security continues to remain the trickiest aspect of online business. The process of making an e-commerce site secure is tough and sophisticated. However, if you’re looking to do profitable business and establish a name in the market, it becomes a necessity to ensure consumers have a pleasant experience that is devoid of any disruptions.
