Due to the convenience online shops offer compared to traditional brick-and-mortar stores, more consumers are buying products online. While this is good news for businesses, it also means a greater risk of compromised sensitive customer data. As such, companies must take steps to protect their e-commerce consumer data. If you are a business owner looking to protect your e-commerce consumer data, consider the following strategies:
Use a secure payment gateway.
A payment gateway is a service that allows businesses to accept credit cards and other electronic payments. When choosing a payment gateway for your e-commerce store, pick one PCI DSS compliant and uses SSL encryption to protect customer data. Using a secure payment gateway has many benefits, such as:
- Reduced risk of fraud: A secure payment gateway can help reduce fraud by verifying the customer’s identity and ensuring that the customer’s credit card information is valid.
- Improved customer satisfaction: Customers are more likely to be satisfied with their purchases if they know that their personal data will never be compromised.
- Increased sales: Customers are more likely to purchase from an online store that uses a secure payment gateway, growing sales and revenue.
Monitor your system for suspicious activity
You should regularly monitor your ecommerce store for any suspicious activity, such as unusual login attempts or orders. If you notice anything suspicious, investigate and take appropriate action. For instance, if you’re running a hardware online shop, you might want to add an extra layer of security by requiring a customer’s billing address and phone number when they checkout.
You may also want to consider investing in a security monitoring service to help you keep an eye on your store and quickly identify any potential security threats.
Keep your software up to date.
Any software you use for your shop, such as your shopping cart software, should be kept up to date with the latest security patches. This will help to reduce the risk of vulnerabilities being exploited by hackers. Updating diligently is essential but can be time-consuming. As such, you may consider using a software update service, which will automatically install updates for you. They can also provide expert support if you run into any problems, avoiding costly downtime for your online store.
Ensure physical security
While most e-commerce businesses are based online, there may be times when you need to store physical copies of customer data, such as for backups or for compliance with data retention laws. When storing customer data, it’s vital to ensure they are kept in a safe location, such as a safe or locked filing cabinet. It would help if you also had procedures to destroy physical copies of customer data when they are no longer needed to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.
Use strong passwords
All accounts associated with your e-commerce store, such as your admin account, should have strong passwords that are difficult to guess. A strong password should be at least 8 characters long and include a mix of symbols, upper and lower case letters, and numbers. Don’t use words like “password” or your company’s name that are easy to guess.
In addition, make it a habit to change your passwords regularly, especially if you suspect they may have been compromised. Doing so makes it more difficult for hackers to gain access to your accounts and customer data.
Implement data security measures
In addition to using a secure payment gateway, businesses should implement other data security measures to protect e-commerce consumer data. Some of the actions that can be taken include:
- Encrypting data in transit: Data should be encrypted when sent between your e-commerce store and your customers, as well as between your store and any third-party service providers. This will help to protect the data from being intercepted by hackers.
- Encrypting data at rest: Data should also be encrypted when stored on your servers and on any backup devices. This will help to prevent hackers from accessing the data if they can gain access to your servers or backups.
- Implementing access control measures: Access to customer data should be restricted to only those employees who need it for their job. Furthermore, all employees should have unique login credentials, which should be regularly changed.
- Regular security audits: Security audits should be conducted regularly to identify any potential security weaknesses in your e-commerce store. These audits can be performed internally or by an external security consultant.
The bottom line
By taking the time to implement the above security measures, you can help to protect your e-commerce business from data breaches and fraud. Doing so will give your customers peace of mind knowing that their data is safe when shopping with you.