5 Tips for Increasing Security in Your Online Transactions
E Commerce is a vital aspect of the modern economy. However, it also leaves businesses and consumers vulnerable to more types of security risks than traditional commerce does. You should do your best to cover all potential holes in your security. Here are five tips for increasing security in your online transactions.
1. Improve Your Call Filtering
Whether you’re a consumer or running a business, you should make sure your call filtering technology is as robust as possible. Businesses need to show consumers that it’s really one of their representatives calling. Consumers need to be able to easily filter spam calls, robocalls, and other malicious calls. A branded call can help assure a customer that it’s your business calling rather than a security threat attempting to steal his or her information. This feature is particularly important because of the increasingly intertwined nature of phones and the internet.
2. Keep Your Security Software Updated
Everyone who uses the internet should keep his or her cybersecurity tools up-to-date. Check your security programs regularly for software updates and patches. These updates help ensure any holes or bugs in the security are patched as quickly as possible. If a tool is left outdated, then a cybercriminal will have an easier time circumventing your security and attacking your sensitive data. This applies to every security tool and program you have. Don’t allow any of them to become outdated.
3. Invest in Secure Web Hosting
If you choose to use a web host instead of developing your own website, make sure that web host is legitimate and has robust security features. Check whether the web host offers encryption services, code signing, backup services, rootkit scanners and Secure File Transfer Protocols (SFTP), among other features. It’s also a good idea to ask how often the host updates its security features and how customizable its security and other features are. You want to be able to add your own security tools if you so desire.
4. Utilize an SSL Protocol
If your business sells products or services online in any capacity, you should utilize an SSL protocol. SSL, or secure socket layer, is an encryption protocol meant specifically for websites. If a website’s URL begins with https, then that website utilizes SSL. Like other types of encryption, SSL protocols ensure online portals are protected from malicious actors and cybercriminals. This is particularly important when a website plays host to ecommerce transactions. If you use a web host, check whether it uses SSL. If you build your own website, you should invest in SSL yourself. You may also want to consider other types of encryption tools, such as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), depending on the types of work you’re doing online.
5. Make Sure All Devices Are Secured
Most people access the internet from at least two devices, if not more. This means they may also be conducting ecommerce from multiple devices too. To ensure your online transactions and sensitive data are as secure as possible, you need to incorporate all of your security into all of your devices. Lock mobile devices with biometrics or passcodes. Practice safe internet usage. Install appropriate security software on all your devices. Use a VPN whenever you access the internet from public wifi, no matter the type of device. Run security scans, disk defragmentation and other types of protective scans regularly.
Conclusion
Make sure you introduce the types of security that make sense for your online transactions. There may be different security needs for online shopping, online banking and online investing, for example. Security needs may also differ depending on how you connect to the internet, for example by ethernet, mobile network or wifi.
