E-commerce fraud to rise 18% this year, here’s how to keep your shoppers safe online!

• Web hosting experts Fasthosts give their top five tips for keeping customers secure as forecast predicts 18% jump in online fraud for shoppers.

As e-Commerce displays exponential growth over the past year, unfortunately so does online fraud and recent data predict an 18% increase in cybercrime over the course of 2021, according to the latest research from Juniper Research¹.

The security of your shoppers should be your biggest priority. Putting customers’ details at risk of fraud and identity theft can irreparably damage a brand. So, use this time wisely to ensure you have the procedures in place to keep your shoppers safe.

To support, Fasthosts have revealed their top five tips for keeping customers secure on your website.

Five top tips to ensure your shoppers’ cyber security this 2021

1. Stop stockpiling personal data

The most straightforward way to improve your site’s cyber security is by regularly purging old data. This means establishing a procedure that deletes customers’ personal and payment details as short a while as possible after a transaction has processed. By erasing information when it’s no longer needed, you’re immediately minimising the chance of a breach.

2. Make high-strength passwords your priority

No matter how sophisticated your on-site security measures are, a hacker will almost always decipher a weak password. To get around this, encourage uses to choose a complex combination of characters, including a capital, lowercase, number, and special. A poorly chosen password will unlock a world of possibility for a hacker, with personal and financial details on display, so it’s important to insist on an uncrackable phrase.

3. Keep on top of outstanding security updates

Third party apps can help to offer an immersive and attractive online experience, but they’re also a haven for hackers, and are constantly being probed for weaknesses. App developers regularly release updates to improve security, but it’s often up to ecommerce business owners to action these updates. Fortunately, Fasthosts domains offer intuitive auto-update functionality so you’re always on top of your site.

4. Ensure compulsory PCI compliancy

The Payment Card Industry has a series of Data Security Standards, more commonly known as the PCI DSS, that businesses should abide by to keep passwords and payment details secure. Adhering to these standards goes a long way towards ensuring cyber security for customers.  All businesses that process even one card transaction should comply with PCI standards.

5. Double down and encrypt your data

Ensuring your site is encrypted means that, even in the event of hacking, breached data is often rendered useless. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a measure that protects you and your customers’ information through 256-bit encryption. You’ll know if a site is SSL certificated immediately because you’ll notice a padlock in the address bar and the URL will begin with ‘https://’ rather than ‘http://’.