TEA Blog

DEALING WITH SECURITY THREATS TO YOUR ECOMMERCE WEBSITES?

Security threats arise either because of somebody's malicious or because of incorrect technical setup. As a result, there cannot be an exhaustive listing of all security issues. But here are the most common:

  • Malware

Viruses, Trojans, and other forms of malware can infect website servers. Such malware infects users of the website by executing unintended actions such as downloading software without permission.

  • Unauthorized Data Access

Online discussion forums are flooded with criminals (what else could I call them?) offering databases of credit card information. They promise that these databases contain accurate and complete information. Isn't that scary?

Using backdoors, scripting (XSS), or other methods, hackers gain access to private information stored in the databases of sites. Imagine the havoc that can be caused by someone who has such sensitive financial and identity information!

  • Denial of Service

Denial of Service (DoS) or Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) is a method used by hackers to send a large number of automated requests to an website. To the website server, these requests seem to originate from genuine visitors. So the website server attempts to respond to the requests. But the sheer volume overwhelms the server.

The high volume of artificial traffic has the same effect as volume of genuine traffic would, i.e., the server slows down, or worse, completely blocks out genuine visitors.

Most businesses are cyclic. Imagine if hackers were to cause an website to shut down on an important shopping day such as Cyber Monday! Even a few minutes of downtime could cause huge losses.

  • Phishing

To the accomplished criminal (once again the only appropriate term I can come up with), it is easy to set up a website that looks exactly like your website. Then it is only a matter of inviting a large number of users to this fake site. Some of them will fall for it and wrongly assume that they are on your website while they are on the criminal's site.

If you assume that you are on a genuine site, you will be more likely to part with information such as credit card information, personal identification information, , passwords, and like. Once such sensitive information reaches the wrong hands, there is no telling how it will be misused.


These are just some of the security hazards that websites face all the time. As an business, it is your job to ensure that your customers feel safe to shop online. Relevant legislation that understands digital crime and creates strong deterrents will also go a long way in reducing the incidence of cyber crime.

Conclusion
While there is no silver bullet, recognizing the menace is a good first step. Then using methods such as authentication, or good old , you could significantly increase the level of security of your website.