Implementing e-Business Security

Security is an essential part of any transaction that takes place over the internet. Customers will lose his/her faith in e-business if its security is compromised. Following are the essential requirements for safe e-payments/transactions:

• Confidentiality: Information should not be accessible to an unauthorized person. It should not be intercepted during the transmission.
• Integrity: Information should not be altered during its transmission over the network.
• Availability: Information should be available wherever and whenever required within a time limit specified.
• Authenticity: There should be a mechanism to authenticate a user before giving him/her an access to the required information.
• Non-Repudiability: It is the protection against the denial of order or denial of payment. Once a sender sends a message, the sender should not be able to deny sending the message. Similarly, the recipient of message should not be able to deny the receipt.
• Encryption: Information should be encrypted and decrypted only by an authorized user.
• Auditability: Data should be recorded in such a way that it can be audited for integrity requirements.

Measures to ensure Security

Major security measures are following:

• Encryption: It is a very effective and practical way to safeguard the data being transmitted over the network. Sender of the information encrypts the data using a secret code and only the specified receiver can decrypt the data using the same or a different secret code.
• Digital Signature: Digital signature ensures the authenticity of the information. A digital signature is an e-signature authenticated through encryption and password.
• Security Certificates: Security certificate is a unique digital id used to verify the identity of an individual website or user.

Secure Electronic Transaction

It is a secure protocol developed by MasterCard and Visa in collaboration. Theoretically, it is the best security protocol. It has the following components:

• Card Holder’s Digital Wallet Software: Digital Wallet allows the card holder to make secure purchases online via point and click interface.
• Merchant Software: This software helps merchants to communicate with potential customers and financial institutions in a secure manner.
• Payment Gateway Server Software: Payment gateway provides automatic and standard payment process. It supports the process for merchant’s certificate request.
• Certificate Authority Software: This software is used by financial institutions to issue digital certificates to card holders and merchants, and to enable them to register their account agreements for secure electronic commerce.

6 e-commerce security strategies

Install HTTPS protocols

These protocols have increased their popularity in recent years, compared to traditional HTTP, more vulnerable than HTTPS. The HTTPS protocol has been used normally in parts of the website intended for payments, due to the need to armor the information of customers and companies.

At present, however, the use of these protocols has become widespread. Now they are needed in the entire website, which has condemned the old HTTP protocols to ostracism, so to speak.

Parallel to these protocols, it is also essential to install SSL certificates (secure sockets layer), responsible for protecting data in transit during the payment process. In addition, the installation of HTTPS servers has a positive effect on user confidence during navigation.

Implements CVV and AVS verification systems

Payment processing is one of the most sensitive aspects of e-commerce cybersecurity. Businesses should exercise extreme caution, especially when credit or debit cards are involved.

Requiring the CVV (Card Verification Value) code is a highly recommended practice. And it is for two reasons:

• Increase security in online payments. Requiring CVV codes makes it much more difficult to process a fraudulent transaction.
• Cybercriminals may have stolen a credit card number, but not the physical card (although this last scenario is possible, it is very minority).

Perform periodic backups

This is another of the most effective e-commerce security strategies. And it certainly doesn’t require hiring industry professionals.

Simply install UpdraftPlus, BackupBuddy, BoldGrid Backup, BackWPup, and other security plugins and make regular copies of e-commerce databases. It is extremely important to make regular backups of your site’s data. Among the biggest threats to our e-commerce are not only malware or phishing. There is also human error.

While there are ways to manually back up your data, it’s easy to forget or stop doing so systematically. Consequently, the use of plugins and backup tools is required to shield databases and all sensitive e-commerce information.

Use of multilayer security or Multi-Layered

Multilayered security means the use of different measures, such as the installation of a firewall, which provides an initial defense against cyber threats.

In addition, the use of a CDN (content delivery network) allows an extra layer of security to be added, since this system diversifies the copies of data in several geographical points.

This measure is also useful for preventing DDoS (denial-of-service attack) attacks. Without a doubt, one of the most important e-commerce security strategies.

Performs transaction monitoring

What are the best e-commerce security strategies?

When we talk about monitoring transactions, you may imagine a group of professionals locked in a room full of screens and computer equipment, reviewing each transaction online. This is not necessary! Setting up alerts for suspicious movements in transactions is enough.

One of the most popular is to block a transaction when the billing and shipping addresses do not match. This is an anomaly that could hide some kind of fraud or credit card theft.

Avoid storing credit/debit card information

Beyond e-commerce security and encryption techniques and tools, the best online stores use common sense to protect their customers.

The best way to avoid credit and debit card information leaks is to not store them. We know: credit card numbers and customer names are essential to facilitate quick payment. However, it is not necessary to store them on online servers.

Today, moreover, such storage would violate the rules set out in the PCI standards. The loss of this information not only compromises the reputation of e-commerce users: it also puts financial institutions and companies at risk.

An excellent alternative is to use payment gateways such as PayPal, WePay, Skrill, Stripe or Authorize.net. In this way, sensitive information will be the responsibility of these platforms, which also have better security protocols than conventional e-commerce.