The most common barrier of an online business is the security breach. Around 90% of startups face this problem on starting their new online business. This indeed brings dissatisfaction to customers. So, how will a new startup convince its customers without compromising on security?
In order to ensure security and render the best service it is required to concentrate on the security measures. In today’s post let us see a few points that enforces the need for security.
Let’s Get Started!!!
Here are the following most common security breaches that take place to an ecommerce website with the solutions.
1) DDoS Attacks:
The DDoS Attack is the Distributed Denial of Service attack. DDoS attack floods the bandwidth/system with multiple systems with a view to compromise target a single system. As a result, the targeted system will not be available to its end users. There are 7 different types of DDoS attacks which occurs through the layers of the network and are as follows:
- Application Layer
- Presentation Layer
- Session Layer
- Transport Layer
- Network Layer
- Datalink Layer
- Physical Layer
The attack varies for every single layer and causes different damages to the network. You need to observer inbound traffic. If you observe any abnormal upsurge in traffic, it may be due to DDoS attack. Moreover, you need to overprovision of bandwidth. You need to protect your system with a proper firewall system as you may not know through which layer of the network you are being targeted. You should also contact immediately hosting provide when you see any sign of this type of attack.
Solution – Use CDN:
The most common way to protect your website from DDoS attacks is through Content Delivery Networks. Engaging a CDN helps you to host your network through various IP addresses. For example, when DDoS attack commence on engaging a CDN, you will still have time to figure it out by running your website on the other IP address.
This method is considered the most efficient and the cost-effective way to protect your website from DDoS attacks and even have your site running without withdrawing the services.
2) SQL Injections:
An SQL injection is done by inserting malicious codes in SQL statements. These are done using the webpage inputs by attackers and occurs when a user is asked for a username or user ID. This is where the hacker uses the chance to insert an SQL statement in your database.
Once they get the chance of entering your database, they get full authority of it and gather all relevant, required data. When their requirement is fulfilled, they no more need the SQL statement to be left in your database hence they delete it forever.
Solution – Installing an SSL Certificate:
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is one of the most important aspect in running a website. As security is very much important for customers who login through your website, you need to be very clear in choosing the right service.
Especially for an ecommerce website, people would always check for the security as they had to deal with their transaction details. When you are running a new ecommerce website, you can go for an EV-SSL certificate through which you can protect your customer’s information and their transaction details. No matter what kind of attack your website faces you can still protect your website from being attacked.
Especially for an ecommerce website, people would always check for the security as they had to deal with their transaction details. To purchase SSL certificate, you need to think over website requirement.
3) Crawlers:
Are you wondering what these crawlers really mean? These crawlers are bots that crawl over the surface of your website. They try to read every single coding that you have implemented on your website. These do not exclude the web content as well.
On the other hand, there are bots that are developed/ invented to fix websites for their pricing and other essential information. When it comes to ecommerce websites, pricing really matters. This is where, the hackers play their game and get your business under trouble by messing up with the pricing information that you provide your customers.
Solution – Robot.txt:
The only better way to get rid of the crawlers is through the Robot.txt which is a special instruction to the bots that work behind and tries to scrawl through the content or data you hold on your website. They can easily sue the potential scrapers in case if you have forbidden them in your terms and conditions.
4) Spam:
Spamming is something that nobody loves. You would have noticed bundle of spam mails or Ad mails hitting your inbox continuously. This can also turn a trigger to your hackers. Not just email is the littlest source, your comment boxes and social media inboxes are the other sources through which hackers penetrate.
The hackers make use of these comment boxes to leave in their fishy links or any other harmful links that disturbs your security. Through these tricks it is not just your security but also the website speed that gets affected.
Solution – Install captcha plugin:
Captcha is one of the most familiar ways of spam blocker. You can install a captcha plugin to your website to prevent from spamming attacks. The captcha generates random texts or images or even expressions which makes decipher harder for spambots.
5) Financial hacks:
As mentioned earlier in SQL injection, the biggest target for your hackers is the money that your customers invest. The hackers try to loot them some or the other way and one better way is the credentials that is left behind on your database.
Regular ecommerce users visit the website often, hence they find it difficult to login every time they come in. That is the reason they leave their password to be remembered by the portal every time they login.
This is where the hackers take advantage, they penetrate through the system’s database and make use of the stored data which indeed helps them in grabbing all the money from the user’s account. The customer who has lost his/her money would demand on you for their money, thinking that you are the one who has stolen it.
That is why it is more important to protect any ecommerce website with an SSL certificate and even educate customers about the threat on leaving their passwords behind. This would help both the customers and you from being betrayed.
Solution – Secure using Firewall:
The best and most reliable way to protect your website from financial hacks is by applying firewall to your website. You can reach out to your security provider and get it resolved or even install an SSL certificate to your website as mentioned earlier.
Firewalls are the first preventive measure that any website owner prefers but when it fails at a least it is better to go for a secured socket layer which not only prevents hacks but also adds more value and improve your ranking on SERP results.
Wrap up:
There are many articles and blogs around that educate you on how to protect your ecommerce website in a better way. But many a times we would skip those steps as we think that we are already equipped to face those breaches.
But the real fact is we are not aware of the consequences nor the threats that our website face which leads us in neglecting those essential preventive steps. That is the reason I have ended up in educating you all with these threats that could enhance you in implementing the best security for your website.