Act Now Before You Regret Later: Protect Your E-commerce Website Now!
The growth of E-commerce business has skyrocketed over the last few years, and the momentum continues to swing upwards. Online transactions have become an integral part of our lives these days, thanks to the growing acceptance of E-commerce as a convenient alternative to the traditional shopping experience.
Even an hour of downtime due to a website outage or a malicious attack can have a significant impact on a retailer’s reputation and revenue, especially during the holidays, a time which the National Retail Federation says can add up to 40% of an online retailer’s annual revenue.
With some large e-commerce sites earning millions each day during the holiday season, even a few minutes of downtime can lead to financial losses in the tens of thousands of dollars, not to mention customer frustration. Approximately half of all Fortune 500 companies experience at least 1.6 hours of downtime each week.
This equates to about 80 hours of downtime per year. According to Forrester Research, the hourly cost of downtime for a typical company can range from $10,000 to $1 million. And the impact on a business’ reputation can be equally as damaging.
Protect Your E-Commerce Website from Potential Security Threats
It can be extremely challenging to protect your business from potential security threats. However, certain best practices can be implemented to safeguard the integrity of your online store and the confidentiality of your customer data. The number of e-commerce platforms available today is daunting. When selecting your platform, focus on safety over flash. If they don’t have a firm plan on how to protect your customers, move on.
Similarly, there are so many choices for web hosting that it’s difficult to decide. Focus on both reliability and security when selecting your host. A provider that’s always down will drive away customers just as surely as one that is susceptible to hackers. Don’t store sensitive data as there is no reason to store thousands of records on your customers. These may include credit card numbers, expiration dates and card verification value codes. Also, while it is the responsibility of the retailer to keep customer information safe on the back-end, you can help customers help themselves. You can do this by requiring a minimum number of characters and the use of symbols or numbers.
Users need education on the laws and policies that affect customer data. So educate your clients, as well as your workforce, about your information security practices. Let them know how you are protecting customers’ credit card information and what they should do from their end. In effect, this keeps the financial information secure.
Right Choice of Security Platform
As an E-commerce website owner, you must keep all the customer data in a safe and secure manner. Security is not free, but it’s cheaper than getting hacked. The optimum solution is one that takes into account the right choice of software and hosting platform and keeping everything up to date and secure. Also, make sure you keep your files backed up so you are ready for the worst-case scenario. But also good old manual processes and common-sense actions like changing common logins will also help you secure your e-commerce website.
If you have a business that requires protection from imminent threats caused by cyber-attacks, then you’ll definitely need experts to help you. Our team at IT Solution would definitely fit the bill when it comes to all things security. Being a top Singapore data security specialist, IT Solution has expanded horizons reliably, specializing in providing IT products and services, as well as hosting and support, among many others. Contact us if you want to know more. Our customer service team would be glad to assist you and answer your questions and concerns.
