If you want to open your own eCommerce store, your first priority should be making your store feel secured to users and protect yourself from hacker attacks. Most the people often underestimate this step and do not take the necessary precautions which can lead to huge problems in the future.
Building a stable and secured eCommerce store is very important just because you’ll have to process sensitive information that should be handled with extra precautions in order to avoid future complications.
Since the eCommerce business is booming at the moment and more people try to open their own businesses, we decided to cover some of the ways to improve your e-commerce store security.
- Get Your SSL Encryption
HTTPS has become a standard security measure in recent years and most of the platforms have it as a basic option. However, if you are still using the old HTTP protocol, it will have negative implications on your eCommerce store and affect your SEO.
HTTPS encryption of data must be used, especially for websites that have online transactions. This will not only protect payment information, but it also protects visitor private data.
- Choose the Right eCommerce Platform
Most of the eCommerce stores run on platforms such as Magento or Shopify and there is a good reason for that. They provide many different options like functionality, customization and easily integrated payment methods, but most of all they are much more secure than other private e-commerce stores.
The security is their top priority and they update their security measures constantly which keeps your store safe. They pay attention to hackers and take extra precautions in order to avoid exposing all user information.
Some of them come with their own 128-bit free SSL certificates which lower the chance of being individually targeted by hackers when you are using some of the most popular platforms.
- Security Plugins
Some of the merchants decide to build their own eCommerce store on platforms like WordPress, which means that all the security measures should be done by you. There are many different plugins that offer high level of security by production your website from malware, suspicious admin logins, and unauthorized content stealing.
Your security plugin is the first level of your security and you must make sure all your security plugins are updated constantly. There are plugins like Wordfence Security that has more than 22 million downloads and reveals and stops any hacking attempts on your website.
- Change Your Admin Login
One of the ways to make it harder for hackers to hack your website is by controlling your logging options as well as password information. There are a few things you have to take into consideration such as:
- Most of the platforms provide generated username and password that needs to be changed. You are presenting yourself as easy prey for hackers if you keep your basic data for login purposes.
- Pay attention to your password. There is a reason that some platforms want users to create hard passwords with many symbols and numbers, making it harder for hackers to access your admin panel.
- Another way is to change the admin path. Most of the people keep their pre-generated admin path that is easily accessible by hackers. Basically, it is either /wp-admin or /admin. WordPress will allow you to change this path, so make sure to do it.
- Teach customers How to Stay Protected
You have to teach your customers to protect themselves in order to avoid any information leaks. Make it easier for them to understand why it is important to create longer and more complicated passwords with a minimum number of characters and numbers.
You can even allow Two-Factor Authentication, which can be more complicated for users, but your eCommerce store will be much safer. They say attack wins you games, but defense wins you trophies. So, think about defending your website like in football: you need a good linebacker to rank higher in the NFL playoff odds.
These are some of the ways to keep your eCommerce store protected. Do not forget to always back up your data so all your work can be restored if your website is infected with malware or accessed by hacker. These security measures apply to all websites, you have to take user privacy security very seriously. This is your top priority if you want to succeed in the eCommerce business.