In a world of 1 billion websites, getting hacked is a pretty common issue.
An average number of 37,000 websites are vulnerable to hacks every day. And hackers do not care much about the size or the weight of your website. In fact, a large portion of the website hacks includes more than just compromising private information. Website hacks may also include just page vandalizing. Both of which are harmful to an e-commerce website.
Did you know that some of these hacks are the reason of human errors? Let’s look into some of the most common ones.
Top Reasons that Threaten the Security of E-commerce Websites
#1 – Third Party Integration
Most of the CMS platforms come with their own third party plugins and software.
CMS plug-ins such as that of Drupal and Joomla are a rich source of design and content.
These plugins can help you save time and money on your website development and maintenance for sure.
However, with every new version release, these open source systems become quickly outdated leaving the website incompatible and hence, prone to cyber attacks. Updating software every time a new version is released can help prevent any kind of cyber vandals.
That, however, becomes a habit often forgotten by many website owners. In some instances, developers simply tend to give up on the project.
#2 – Shared Web Servers
Does your website share a hosting server with some other websites? Well, you could be the next victim of a big cyber crime.
Websites sharing the same host server are utilizing the same CPUs, drives, and memory. That means that if one of the websites gets compromised, the other websites will also get exposed to the same danger. It indirectly opens the door for the hacker to access all the private data of a website. So even if the hack is aimed at the web hosting company, none of the websites are safe from the attack.
#3 – Inability to Respond Quickly to Application Vulnerabilities
With the importance of mobile applications surging to greater heights, web applications now stand as a serious threat to enterprises.
At least one critical security breach has been detected in 75 percent of mobile applications and 35 percent of all non-mobile applications. It is, therefore, important for all primary developers to quickly respond to such threats.
#4 – The Trouble of Outdated Scripts
Scripts are used to develop a website. It helps to control every component of a website, be it graphics or databases. They are also one of the most common elements through which a hacker tries to gain control of a website. Not just web scripts. Installation scripts that are used for plug-ins, web-based applications, and add-ons can give away indirect access to hackers.
The reasons that lead to website hacks are endless and it may seem quite overwhelming for e-commerce website owners. But then, a large portion of these cyber attacks focus on easy targets. Why turn your website into an easy target spot?
Reducing hack risks is easy actually. Unless you are a specific target for the hacker, there are many simple ways by which you can keep the trouble of cyber attacks at bay.
Simple Ways to Protect Your Website from Cyber Attacks
- Make Your Website PCI Compliant
PCI Compliant support gives all card issuers an extra level of security from cyber attacks. If you accept payment from your customers via debit/credit card then it is important that you meet all the regulations as stated by the PCI security standard council. This will help you to keep track of all your customer payment data safely and securely.
- Encrypt Your Website Data
Secure all financial information and keep unwanted fraudulent purchases at bay by encrypting your website data – by using the Secure Sockets Layer certificates.
One of the characteristic features of SSL certificates is that it makes all data unreadable to the hacker or the fraudster. So when you send someone an important transaction/ financial detail, only the recipient would be able to read it.
Other than that, it also protects highly sensitive data that travel across the web and encrypts any kind of confidential information such as credit card details or passwords.
- Setting a Strong Password
One of the simplest ways to assure that all sensitive documents are secured is by setting up a strong login password. This is important not just for retailers or website owners but also for customers setting up an account. Insist them to choose a strong password that should characterize a mixture of uppercase and lowercase alphabets, symbols, numerics. Remember to change the password every 15 days or every month.
- Monitor Your Website Regularly
Monitoring websites and keeping track of a website’s traffic flow is important. Regular scanning can prevent hackers or identity miscreants from compromising your website function. You can easily do this by getting a scanning web application tool that can quickly identify vulnerabilities that could put your confidential data at risk.
- Add a Firewall Security
Firewall Security can add an extra layer of security to your network. This will put you on alert in case if any suspicious event occurs on your server. Firewall Security can protect your website from both SQL Security and cross-site scripting attack.
So install a Firewall Security for your website and monitor all the website traffic. You can detect and prevent any kind of data loss too.
- Updating Your System
Always keep your system updated. An outdated system can become more vulnerable to cyber attacks. A new version is developed to give your system smoother functionality and robust solution when it comes to bug fixes. This helps to keep a website safe and secure.
- Choose the Right Platform
Before you choose an e-commerce platform, make sure that you check the security credentials first to ensure that all the data credentials are securely handled.
- Hire a Developer
If you are not sure how to safeguard your website from constant security hacks, then it’s time to hire a developer. There are so many developers working to thwart the efforts of hackers on the prey for their next victim. You can put your website’s security in good hands of a developer and focus on other important things that your business needs.
Conclusion
A single hack can create a massive financial damage to your e-commerce business. Do what you can do to protect your website. If you cannot do it yourself, developers are always there to help you out.
