Did you know that small and mid-sized businesses are hit by 62% of all cyberattacks, about 4000 per day?
Source: pixabay.com
Hackers are creating new traps every day, making more and more people their victims. They are after valuable data such as users’ credit card details, bank account numbers, passwords, social security numbers, etc.
As an eCommerce store owner, you are responsible for the safety of both your business and your customers` data. So how can you protect them?
To prevent your e-commerce website from becoming a victim of hackers and data breaches, you need to create a culture of security. You can learn how to do it in the following paragraphs, so continue reading.
Top 5 Eccomerce Security Threats
If you want to be able to protect your website from cybercriminal attacks, you should know what the most common eCommerce attacks are. So let’s check them out.
SQL Injections
SQL (standard coding language) is used for accessing databases. SQL injection is a “code injection” that sends malicious SQL queries to databases.
Often, these commands use legitimate information from your website to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data stored in a database. The attacker can collect, delete, or modify data that belongs to your customers or make changes to your website.
Some common SQL injection examples are:
- UNION attacks, where attackers take data from different database tables.
- Retrieving hidden data, where an attacker can modify SQL query to return additional results.
- Subverting application logic, where an attacker can change a query to interfere with application logic.
- Examining the database, where an attacker can extract information about the structure and version of the database.
- Blind SQL injection, where the attacker asks the database true or false questions and determines the answer based on the response.
Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
XSS attacks are also a type of injection in which malicious scripts are injected into benign and trusted websites.
The main goal of an XSS attack is injecting malicious scripts into a legitimate web page. The end user’s browser thinks that script came from a trusted site and executes it.
These scripts can access any cookies, session tokens, or sensitive information retained by your browser. They can even rewrite the content of the HTML page!
Malware Injections
Do you know how every year the medical community warns people about the flu season and informs them they can protect themselves by getting a flu shot?
There are no seasonal infections for PCs, smartphones, tablets, or enterprise networks. Malware attacks are in full swing the entire year.
Malware is an umbrella term for viruses, ransomware, worms, and other programs or codes that are harmful to the system.
There are different motives behind different types of malware. Although it can`t damage physical hardware or network equipment, it can steal, delete, encrypt your data, alter or hijack core computer functions, and spy on your computer activity without your knowledge.
Malware can penetrate your computer when you:
- Download infected files
- Surf through hacked websites
- Install programs and apps from unfamiliar providers
- Open malicious email attachments
DDoS and DOS Attacks
DDoS and DOS attacks occur when your attacker floods a server with fake internet traffic to prevent users from accessing your eCommerce site. The goal is always the same—a drop in legitimate traffic and a loss of business reputation.
Even the largest global companies are not immune to being “DDoS’ed.”. In fact, in February 2020, Amazon Web Services suffered such an attack.
Brute-Force Attacks
A brute-force attack uses a trial-and-error tactic to guess login info and encryption keys or find a hidden web page. It is an old but still popular attack method in the hacker world. Many of them use scripts and programs as brute-force weapons. In order to get around authentication processes, such tools try a variety of password combinations.
While some hackers still execute brute-force attacks manually, most of them use bots. Automated programs are popular because they can predict all default combinations.
How Can You Protect Your Ecommerce Site?
Now that you have knowledge about the most common security threats to your eCommerce site, you may be wondering what you can do to protect it. You’ve come to the right place because we’ve prepared some useful tips on how to do it. So read on.
Create a Hard-to-Crack Password
Millions of people had their accounts hacked because they had weak passwords that hackers could crack within seconds.
Avoid using passwords that include personal information, such as your pets` names, your date of birth, your family members` birthdays, the name of the street you live on, etc. Cracking that kind of password is a piece of cake for hackers.
So, it`s worth the extra effort to ensure that your site and your customers follow the best password hygiene, such as:
- Use unique passwords with lowercase and uppercase letters, symbols, and numbers, which will increase password complexity.
- Avoid using the same password for different services.
- Update your password every few months.
- Keep personal information to yourself.
- Set up a reCAPTCHA for more secure logins.
- Limit login attempts to prevent hackers from guessing the password.
- Locking an account after several failed login attempts.
In addition, you can use one of many password managers to generate strong passwords and keep them in an encrypted format that is difficult to intercept by attackers.
Use HTTPS Protocol with SSL Certificate
Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) protocol is the online protocol for secure communication over the internet and is an important step in securing your e-commerce site. Why?
HTTPS with an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate is generally reserved for payments made through your site. However, more and more website owners are starting to use it to secure the entire website.
Google played a big role in this. In 2014, this company announced that they were doubling down on security and that HTTPS would be a ranking factor for websites. As a matter of fact, they said they would start start penalizing HTTP sites.
To enable HTTPS, you have to acquire an SSL certificate. You can purchase it from your hosting company or an SSL vendor. They will help to install and implement it in your eCommerce solution.
Choose a Trustful Ecommerce Platform & Keep Your Site Secure
When choosing an eCommerce platform for selling your products online, you should pay attention to its security features. Check if it offers proven eCommerce security solutions such as encrypted payment gateways, SSL certificates, and authentication protocols for buyers and sellers.
Unfortunately, all these security features don’t mean your e-commerce is safe from hackers’ attacks. They are always looking for vulnerabilities in the system, and the ultimate responsibility for security is on you as the site owner.
That is why it is a good idea to have a security member on your team or outsource eCommerce to professionals.
Never Store User-Sensitive Data
You should avoid collecting data that is not needed for fulfilling transactions. This applies specifically to customer credit card information. Don’t store them on online servers because hackers might steal them.
If you must store sensitive user data, use a secure online storage repository with strict access control, regular audits, and total data encryption.
Back Up Your Ecommerce Data Regularly
Getting your website hacked is no fun—especially if your website hasn’t been backed up. Your data is your most valuable property, and regular backups will protect it from loss or corruption.
There are manual ways to back up data. However, they are not the best solution because you’ll probably forget to do it on multiple occasions.
The best solution is to set up an automatic backup service. This means you’ll be able to sleep peacefully, knowing your data is safe, up-to-date, and backed up.
To Sum Up
In this article, we explained the most common ways hackers attack and listed some useful tips for securing your eCommerce website.
Any website can be the target of hacks and malware attacks, so you should take the necessary safety precautions to protect your online store.
With the right security protocols in place, you can enjoy working on growing your business instead of concentrating on the consequences of a data breach.
