4 min. read
Every website that exists on the Internet is at risk of being hacked. But eCommerce websites are especially at risk than other sites. Why? Because they are highly profitable for hackers.
As eCommerce websites serve as a place where people buy goods, people leave their private information into the purchase form. Once a customer leaves their private info, such as credit card information, it's an opportunity for hackers to steal that information and use it to their benefit.
Data breaches are significantly on the rise, with experts predicting that online retailer fraud will hit $130 billion over the next three years.
Many eCommerce sites have already experienced a data breach. In 2014, eBay reported that an attack exposed its entire account list of 145 million users. In 2013, Target was the victim of a breach that compromised more than 100 million credit and debit cards.
In the first half of 2019, data breaches exposed 4.1 billion records. Hackers attack every 39 seconds, on average 2,244 times a day.
A recent report found that 60% of small businesses close down their business in less than six months after being victims of a cyber-attack.
Especially if you're a small business, the risk of shutting down is higher.
Giant companies like eBay and Target have the resources to survive any crisis. However, smaller and mid-size businesses don't have the power to make a security breach go away.
What's more, you may have to pay a large fine for allowing the theft of your customers' sensitive data.
According to The Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report, 43% of all data breaches in 2019 involved small businesses.
Many eCommerce sites have been victims of DoS and DDoS attacks. During a DoS and DDoS attack, your servers receive a flood of requests from a wide range of untraceable IP addresses, resulting in a website crash.
Cybercriminals use DoS attacks and phishing to target online customers. They will use a DoS attack to take down a site, and then send out phishing emails to customers directing them to a fake emergency site.
One way of protecting yourself against DoS and DDoS attacks is to get enough bandwidth. Enough bandwidth will be able to handle spikes in traffic that may be caused by malicious activity.
Malware is malicious code that's designed to take control of your computer system. It usually comes hidden in files or disguised in a harmlessly seeming app or plugin.
According to The Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report, 28% of breaches involved malware.
Malware comes in many forms. One of those forms is ransomware.
Ransomware locks infected systems until you pay a ransom to unlock. In other words, all of your important customer data and systems will be unavailable for you. This can lead to downtime, which is highly expensive for businesses. You're experiencing missed opportunities every second your site is not operational.
Downtime can have a range of negative consequences on any business, including:
negative user experience
drop in reputation and credibility
drop in online rankings
lost revenue
To protect yourself against malware and ransomware, make sure you conduct regular backups of your site and avoid clicking on suspicious links or installing unknown software.
According to the 2019 Cost of a Data Breach Report by IBM, the average time to identify a breach in 2019 was 206 days.
If you want to avoid losing traffic, customers, and revenue, it's smart to ensure your eCommerce website is safe from outside security threats.
Here are six things you can do:
A reliable eCommerce hosting provider will provide safe website infrastructure that's on track with the most recent updates, patches, and security protocols. A reliable host will "shield" your website against any attacks.
When choosing a hosting provider, you'll be able to choose between an eCommerce hosting provider that only offers web hosting services and an all-in-one provider.
An all-in-one provider is a better option for website owners who are not tech-savvy or don't have the time to deal with hosting, website maintenance, or update. Working with an all-in-one provider like Exai means we will take care of every aspect of ensuring you have a healthy and high-performing eCommerce site.
To ensure your website is healthy and up-to-date, you need to perform regular website maintenance. Regular monitoring will help you keep your business running smoothly and customers enjoying their user experience.
A website maintenance company like Exai will take care of every aspect of ensuring you have a high-performing site, including:
testing website loading speed
analyzing security scans
analyzing website statistics
checking your local search visibility
checking your website for errors
updating core plugins and website software
checking for broken links
Have you noticed how some URLs start with "HTTP" and others with "HTTPS?" The difference is that "HTTPS" is secure encryption which is guaranteed with a certificate.
An SSL certificate turns your customers' sensitive information into an unreadable format. This is known as encryption.
An SSL certificate is similar to an ID card that says, "this website is safe and secure from outside security threats".
SSL certificate comes with several benefits, including:
Protection from hackers: hackers will have a hard time stealing your data.
Trust: people trust brands with a website that's secure and trustworthy. If your site isn't verified and encrypted, they will go to your competition.
Boost in online rankings: Google announced back in 2014 that a certificate installed on your website would increase your ranking position.
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