Simple Ways On How To Protect Your Privacy Online!

The e-commerce industry has been a prime target for cybercriminals. That’s why it’s even more critical for e-commerce entrepreneurs like dropshippers to know what they are getting into. As an e-commerce business owner, you have to understand and learn how to take the proper steps to protect your e-commerce business. You have to know about the best practices that will prevent e-commerce fraud and retain your customer data confidentiality. We here at the Dropship USA work with dropshippers in the US and provide them with a highly optimized, secure platform to sell their products.

So we know all there is to know about site security in the e-commerce industry. We wanted to help members of the dropship nation by providing you with simple ways to protect your privacy online. So how to protect your privacy online? Well, in the following passages, that’s what we will talk about, so without further delay, let’s begin!

How To Protect Your Privacy Online?

There are several reasons why online privacy is essential for e-commerce businesses. From protecting valuable information to ensuring trust and safeguard your business, there are several different reasons. You can do all of those things by taking simple steps into providing a secured e-commerce platform. But before we get into those simple steps, let’s talk about e-commerce security and why you need it. So let’s begins!

What Is E-Commerce Security?

E-commerce security is secured protocols that protect your e-commerce website data and system from cyberattacks and from access or use by cybercriminals and malicious bots. It helps to keep your online business secure and protects your consumers’ and businesses’ private information.

Why Is Online Privacy Important?

If you want to create a successful e-commerce business, you need to provide a safe and secure platform where people trust you enough to provide their personal information. As an e-commerce business, you have to ensure you don’t get hacked and stop sensitive customer data from being stolen. Remember, you have to provide people who trust you enough to put their credit card number or other banking details in your payment platform.

If it’s compromised, then people are less likely to share their information with you. Your goal is to invoke a sense of trust, and that’s why online privacy is important. Having a secured website from the get-go is just a simple way to ensure you don’t incur further damages. Remember, once you suffer a data breach, there are damages you have to pay to repair. Not to mention you have to pay for a forensic investigation, data recovery services, and credit monitoring for your customers.

There are legal obligations you have to meet as well. As an e-commerce business, you have to complete a certain security compliance level to ensure you meet the region’s legal standards of operation. Not meeting these regulations and standards may mean hefty fines or your operating license being canceled. So make sure you check out the following tips to understand what you need to protect your e-commerce business from.

E-Commerce Security Threats You Need To Safeguard Against

There are a plethora of security threats that you need to protect your e-commerce business from. Knowing what to safeguard against will help you understand why securing your website is necessary. Here in the following, you will find some common cybersecurity threats you need to preserve your business and consumers. So let’s check them out!

Phishing

By far the most common security threat online. Here scammers try to trick users and businesses into giving them valuable personal information. Scammers pretend by sending emails and notifications from trusted sources where they seem to be “checking” or “updating” information they already have. It is always suspicious if someone prompts a response about valuable information unless you’ve started the interaction themselves. Do not reply to email or text or providing any information over the phone. Instead, contact the organization’s customer support line directly.

Malware & Ransomware Attacks

Malware and Ransomware attacks are common in the digital world. E-commerce businesses are always at risk of suffering from malware or ransomware attacks. To avoid this painful predicament, you should avoid clicking on links or downloading software you aren’t familiar with. Remember, once your system is infected, hackers can easily control and limit your access to the data. They may even go as far as to demand money to restore your access. Always try to have a data backup option where you can restore your system using your backup.

SQL injection

It’s a sneaky tool that hackers use to manipulate your website’s backend. SQL Injections are basically data breaches where the attackers can view private data and operate part of your system without your knowledge. Try to keep an updated system, and consider implementing a web application firewall to help prevent malicious data from getting in.

Cross-site scripting (XSS)

It’s a tool where cybercriminals input harmful code within your webpages to steal your consumer’s information. It’s a common tactic that they use to directly steal from your consumers, as visitors to your website are exposed to malware, phishing, malicious bots, and other forms of attacks. Using the HTTP Content Security Policy is one of the best ways to ensure your privacy online is protected.

E-Skimming

Scammers take advantage of e-commerce platforms in several different ways, and one of them is e-skimming, where they sit and wait to collect information from your checkout page. E-Skimming is basically about the criminals waiting to collect data on your payment card processing pages whenever your consumers put in their credit card information, so be very careful about it. So now that you know, some of the e-commerce security threats, let’s get into discussing what you can do to ensure you protect your privacy online.

Security Tips To Protect Your Privacy Online

As you can see, there are quite a few different risks to your e-commerce data that hampers your privacy online. While protecting yourself can seem tricky to begin with, but it isn’t that hard. So here are a few different security tips for your e-commerce website that you can follow to ensure you protect online privacy!

Using A Secure E-Commerce Platform

First thing’s first, the easiest way to ensure you protect online privacy is by choosing a secure e-commerce platform in the first place. You can find a wide range of open-source and proprietary e-commerce platforms available that offer complete security options. When choosing to work with an e-commerce platform, you should make sure it has extensive security measures in place and maintains PCI compliance. We at Dropship US specialize in creating secure dropshipping websites by using Shopify as an e-commerce platform. So if you want, we can help you in finding the secured website you need.

Implementing SSL Certificates

If you are looking for a way to protect your online transaction data, then implementing SSL certificates is the easiest way. SSL certificates authenticate the identity of users and encrypt data both on the store and in transit. It’s an essential part if you want secure connectivity between the end-user systems and your e-commerce website. Customers will feel safe when giving you their card information if they see the padlock icon and “HTTPS” in the address bar. So make sure you implement SSL certificates on your e-commerce site.

Make Wise Data Collection Choices

One of the best ways to ensure you have a secured website is by making wise data collection choices. Don’t just collect data for collection’s sake. If you have no data worth collecting, then scammers will just leave your site alone. You should consider the amount of time you hold on to sensitive information. Make sure the data you collect has a shelf life and doesn’t cause data pollution. Unnecessary data is hazardous and potentially toxic for you and your consumers.

Using Third-Party Providers Handle Credit Card Information

There are plenty of payment service providers who specialize in handling users’ credit card information. It relieves you of any trouble of handling sensitive information on your own. Payment processors like Stripe, Authorize.Net, PayPal, or others have the security and tech muscles to take care of customer data. So if you want to protect your customer’s privacy online, then make sure you let third-party providers handle credit card information.

Utilizing Two-Factor Authentication

User credentials get stolen online all the time, with various phishing methods being the root of the problem. Suppose you have a proven user authentication mechanism in place. In that case, it allows you to safeguard your website against these attacks as there is an added layer of verification for the process. Innovative e-commerce businesses are already implementing two-factor authentication (2FA) procedures.

You need to provide your username/password combo, with the second authentication process being an autogenerated code sent to the user’s verified phone number. Hackers might be able to crack the code. Still, the OTP or one-time password sent to the phone usually expires after a few minutes to ensure maximum security and is the perfect option to ensure your online privacy is protected.

Additional Security Measures

You can take several other security measures with many different security measures you can take with innovative technology better integration with different systems. Try integrating a system that not only has a web application firewall but also has anti-malware, intrusion detection and prevention, as well as reputation and integrity monitoring systems built-in. Companies like Deep Security On-Demand and CloudPassage are just a few different companies that you can check out to protect your privacy online.

Utilizing A VPN

You should be very careful when handling customer data and financial transactions on a public network. Public networks are easy to intercept by malicious users. That’s where VPNs can come in handy. They provide an encrypted connection to a secure offsite server. This makes the third party from inserting itself between you and the server harder. There are plenty of cheaper options in the market. Options like StrongVPN or Open VPN are options that you can check out.

Encryption & More Encryption

Like the last tip, there is no better option than encryption to protect your privacy online. Always make sure all the passwords and other sensitive information are encrypted within your system. If you are storing data on a hard drive, then encrypting the drive is also very important. Services like TrueCrypt can help you out in that regard. Always remember that encryption is never bad and is vital nowadays if you want to protect your privacy online.

Stay Up To Date With Software Solutions

The online world is ever-changing, with new developments driving change and security standards. So if you want to protect your online privacy, then integrate the software with updated security practices. As an e-commerce business, you should look to incorporate modern security standards for your shopping cart. Remember, if you are using an old system with MD5 hashed passwords, then your privacy online is at risk. So make sure you always keep up to date with modern software updates that provide the latest security solutions for you and your consumers.

Educate Customers & Employees

Even with the state-of-the-art security measures, your website is as good as gone if the consumers and employees don’t understand the laws and policies that affect customer data. Make sure you educate your consumers and workforce about information security practices. Help them understand how they can better protect credit card information from their end.

Always show them the best practices for data security, and tell them not to disclose sensitive data over email, text, or chat communication. Remember ensuring your privacy online is protected requires an all-hands-on-deck approach. Everyone needs to pitch in if you want to protect privacy online.

Work With E-Commerce Experts

So there you go. These are the simple ways on how to protect privacy online for e-commerce businesses. Make sure you follow these steps to ensure maximum impact and complete security. We here at Dropship US offer just that to dropshippers. Our job is to ensure we provide a secure platform where consumers can safely complete their transactions and shop without worry.

So if you want complete dropshipping solutions, then please contact us. And with that being said, that’s about all we have for you today. Let us know in the comments below if we’ve missed any other security tips. Also, send in your thoughts and suggestions on social media. We love hearing your opinion, so please send them in. We will come back with something new for you soon. Until then, see ya!

Originally posted in: https://dropshipusa.io/blogs/news/simple-ways-on-how-to-protect-your-privacy-online