5 Techniques to Protect Your Ecommerce Site from Frauds

When we talk about eCommerce, we are talking about the process of buying and selling goods and services, over an electronic network, through an online store. In recent years, reports indicate that global eCommerce sales are expected to total $5.5 trillion worldwide in 2022. And by 2025, it is expected to exceed $7.3 trillion.

No wonder e-commerce is becoming an increasingly lucrative alternative for businesses.

However, though the increase in eCommerce transactions comes with the fact that the global eCommerce growth won’t stop anytime soon, it brings a big concern- eCommerce fraud, which is one of the most considerable downsides of running eCommerce businesses.

Why does security matter for eCommerce sites?

Often businesses that run e-commerce operation faces several security risks. When it comes to preserving the privacy and security data of customers or defending against financial scams, or preventing frauds, implementing security for eCommerce is what exactly one needs. From stealing credit card credentials to getting personal information like passwords, banking information or social security numbers to SQL injection, there are tons of ways e-commerce frauds scam online businesses.

So with so many threats to security there exist online, proper security measures become the top priority for eCommerce business owners unless anyone is willing to face some irreparable damage. Because eCommerce site security breaches not just put an impact on the finances of a business but it impacts negatively on the site’s reputation that could have been gained over the years. No wonder, which is why eCommerce security has never been more important for online businesses.

Some of the foolproof techniques to protect your eCommerce store from fraud

And the best way to stay ahead is to be aware of some of the best practices to keep your site and data as safe as possible.

Maintain a strong password policy

No doubt, passwords are essential to security and password policies are key. However, users often tend to use the same and easy password for many services as they need to set a password on every site they log on to. And to avoid the consequences of forgetting the passwords, they find it easier to use the same one. This turns easier for hackers to break into the security.

So what you can do is establish policies to motivate your users to create strong credentials while preventing unsafe passwords. And those policies can include

• A minimum password length (such as passwords must be at least eight characters long).
• Password should be complex and have a combination of characters, including upper case and lower case numbers or letters.
• Block account access after several login access.
• Provide password assessment meter.
• Reasonable password complexity rules.

Choose a secure eCommerce platform

One of the most crucial steps to protecting an eCommerce site from fraud is to use a secure platform. Because it is a cloud hosting eCommerce platform that handles your website design to marketing to conversions. Hence to ensure user safety, look for a proven eCommerce solution that provides secured payment gateways, complies with PCI to prevent security breaches, and maintains HTTPS protocol that ensures a user for a secure visit. Also, check firewalls, which are network security systems that block harmful threats. So do some research and find a host that fits best for you.

Acquire SSL (Security Sockets Layer) certificates

SSL is a digital certificate that lets websites turn into HTTPS from HTTP and establish a reliable connection between a web server and a browser. So install an SSL certificate to protect your data as it travels between your server and browser, and make sure the data passed between the two are private. So when your business is requesting personal information from users, having an SSL certificate means their privacy is safe to you.

Keep your site and plugins regularly updated

When security remains one of the top priorities for eCommerce businesses, keeping the site updated is a must-do. Regularly monitor to ensure that you are updated with the latest software, plugins and extensions to stay one step ahead of the frauds. Because updates contain patches and fixes for security vulnerabilities, ensuring that your data is not exposed to unauthorised users and strengthening your site against attacks. Only install extensions and plugins to your site from well-rated developers and check for updates to find how long ago the developer has patched any security issue.

Don’t store sensitive information

One easy way to protect your eCommerce site is by avoiding storing sensitive data unnecessarily. For example, you can skip the process of storing your customer’s credit card information, bank account number or financial reports on online servers as those data are at high risk of exposure. Only collect those data which are essential for the purpose of fulfilling the transaction. But even if you must store specific data, ensure enough safety measures.

So applying all these proper safeguards in place protect company data and system from all sort of possible threats. Otherwise, leaving your website vulnerable to e-commerce fraud can compromise tons of important information in just one lapse!