Many businesses are finding their place among the digital marketplace with more and more joining the ranks of online ecommerce stores every day.
But many don’t realize the importance of protecting yourself from hackers and bad actors who have the knowledge and tools to infiltrate a business and get away with sensitive information.
Learn some of the common ecommerce security threats and how you can prevent them with modern cybersecurity strategies and solutions.
Do Ecommerce Websites Need Cybersecurity?
In order to protect your business and its customers, it’s an absolute must to have strong cybersecurity for an ecommerce storefront.
Without it, you’re leaving sensitive information out in the open and are extremely vulnerable to many different forms of cyberattacks.
In a world that’s becoming more and more digital, especially in business, retailers see cybersecurity and the threat of attacks as a major obstacle stopping them from implementing ecommerce into their websites.
In fact, 34% of businesses last year said cybersecurity concerns are the primary challenge of entering into the ecommerce space because of the possibility of attacks on them or their customers.
Common Cyber Threats for Online Shoppers and Retailers
Here are some of the most common scams, threats, and viruses that are frequently used against retailers and shoppers alike when using ecommerce platforms:
- DoS & DDoS Attacks: A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack can completely shut down a digital storefront and cost businesses a lot of money. This happens because of an onslaught of requests sent by bad actors that flood your system, denying real customers the ability to make orders or completely crashing your site.
- Phishing: One of the most common cyberthreats is phishing, which is a form of social engineering where hackers attempt to obtain credit card information, bank info, and other important, sensitive information. Hackers can present fake copies of a website, email templates, logos, and more to establish the ruse and trick people into giving information to them.
- Malware: Bad actors can look to hide malware almost anywhere, including links in emails, comments, reviews, and social media that is disguised as coming from a legitimate business.
- Man-in-the-Middle Attack: Hackers can use this form of attack to “listen in” on consumer’s conversations with businesses in order to scrape important information from emails, phone calls, or transactions. This information can then be sold or used for malicious intent.
5 Cybersecurity Strategies to Help Secure an Ecommerce Website
The dangers of the internet are well known, but businesses also need to know that they have the power to protect themselves and prevent these kinds of attacks.
1. HTTPS and Secure Websites
HTTPS provides a more secure browsing experience for customers by making it much harder for hackers to steal information like login info and credit card details.
Having an HTTPS address also gives customers a sense of safety, knowing with more certainty that they’re dealing with the actual business and not an imposter site.
2. Use Strong Passwords and Access Management
One way to help ensure the security of sensitive information is by limiting who has access to it by assigning specific role-based access.
This way only those who need that data to do their jobs will be able to access it and you can more easily monitor when, why, how, and by whom the data is used.
Additionally, use strong passwords and passphrases that cannot be easily guessed or brute-forced.
Multi-factor authentication as an added layer of security is also a great added measure internally and for customers.
3. Penetration Testing
Obtain the help of a ‘white hat’ hacker (and usually an additional team of cybersecurity analysts and experts) who will attempt to hack into a network in order to discover its weaknesses.
This helps to understand where businesses are most vulnerable and, with the aid of a cybersecurity team, what strategies can be implemented to help.
4. Next-Gen Antivirus
It’s important to have the latest and greatest anti-virus and anti-malware programs in order to help detect, remove, and prevent threats.
5. Secure Payment Processing
With digital payments, consumers are entrusting businesses with very sensitive information in the form of addresses, personal information, and credit card numbers or other payment information.
This kind of data can have a large negative impact on both a business and its customers if it’s allowed to fall into the wrong hands.
Consider storing it with a third-party company or off-site storage center that has all the appropriate security measures in place to ensure nobody can access it except for who needs to.
Cybersecurity Compliance in Ecommerce
Depending on the business, it might be a requirement to maintain compliance with certain regulations in order to do business online.
For example, if doing business with residents of California, a business must be compliant with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) which details how to handle a Californian’s consumer data.
Similarly, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe sets specific rules for Europeans and their data, even when using US-based websites.
Users from different regions (like states or foreign countries) should be considered when keeping compliance for the site.
Related Post: CMMC Requirements Overview
Not meeting compliance can have a large negative impact on a business in the form of hefty fines, customer loss, reputational harm, and more. Keeping a close eye on this or partnering with an MSP that provides cybersecurity compliance services can help shield your organization from these liabilities.
How to Implement Cybersecurity with Ecommerce
The first step toward a complete cybersecurity solution for an ecommerce website is to learn where a business’ risks and weaknesses lie.
To do this, we recommend a comprehensive risk audit that dives into an organization to uncover all its vulnerabilities.
Then, a team of a experts utilizes this information to build and implement a security strategy.
But cybersecurity isn’t a set it and forget it situation—you need a team of experts behind you to continuously monitor and update your security strategy to keep up with the constantly changing landscape of cyber threats.
Impact’s cybersecurity partner, DOT Security, has all the skills, experience, and expertise to protect your business.
With Impact and DOT, you’ll have access to an appointed Virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO), cybersecurity analysts and engineers, and compliance officers that all work to ensure your cybersecurity is always effective and up to date.
Bottom Line
Securing an ecommerce platform is an important part of doing business online because it’s crucial to protect your business and customer data, especially if it’s required by regulations.
Learn more about how Impact and DOT can help secure your business, speak with an expert today.
