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Just having a secure e-commerce website is not enough...you
must make sure that your customers know and understand that
your e-commerce site is secure for them.
It is true that you need to insure that your e-commerce
website is secure...but it is just as important for your
customers to KNOW their personal information is just as secure
as their transactions. With all of the news on identity theft
and improper use of personal information this is more important
today than ever.
Securing your e-commerce website: Of course, your
primary concern is to insure that your website is secure. This
is not a simple process but most of the security will be
provided by your hosting company. Here are a few things that
you must be aware of and guidelines you should follow.
- Passwords...regardless of your catalog software,
your link into the information in the catalog will be a
login and password. You should make sure that all logins and
passwords will not be easily cracked...they should always
include at least one number, one upper case and one lower
case letter, be at least 8 characters long and do not
include any common word. For instance JoAnne88 is not a good
password if your name is JoAnne.
You should also never write the login and password down and
keep it anywhere near your computer. Put it in a safe, safe
deposit box or other secure place. A Post-It note stuck to
the monitor is NOT a safe place.
- Security Certificate...a security certificate is a
coded key that combined with your hosting software allows
the encryption of all information passed over the Internet.
Encryption replaces characters and numbers with codes that
can only be read if you have the proper key. You should
never allow your site users to pass sensitive information
over the internet without a security certificate installed
and in use. Encrypting information puts a large load on your
web server so only pages that are passing sensitive
information need to be secure. A secure site is any site
that starts with HTTPS:// (if you have a security
certificate installed) instead of the normal HTTP://. When
secure, a locked "lock" is shown in the lower
right corner of your browser.
- Secured data...in addition to data passed over the
net you should also encrypt any sensitive data (like credit
card numbers) you save in a database or other file on the
server. Your e-commerce catalog software should
automatically include this capability.
- What security means to your e-commerce user...The
technical aspects of security means little to your user.
Their concern for security is far deeper than the lock at
the bottom of the browser. True, they do want to know that
their transactions are secure. You should make sure they are
aware that your site is secure by hosting a security seal
from the company that provided your security certificate.
But your users also want to know that you are not going to
use their personal information in ways that they don't
approve of. That's why it is important for you to have a
clear and concise privacy statement with a prominently
displayed link. Make sure that the link is easy to find on
every page of your site and make sure that the policy is
concise and easy to understand.
The need for electronic security on your site and your
customer data is obvious. What may not be so obvious is your
customers expectation of security and privacy...with privacy
being just as important to the user as the electronic security
measures you have in place. Make sure they understand that
their concern is also your concern.
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