Much of the media coverage around the dangers of using a credit card on the Internet centers around the interception of data being passed from the customer to the Web store. In reality, the greatest risk arises from the theft of data from the Web store’s server after it has been transmitted, either by a hacker or a dishonest employee.
If you are storing sensitive information for your Web store on a server that is connected to the Internet, there are a number of ways to keep sensitive data safe. For starters, protect the sensitive data on your server with a firewall. As an added precaution, whether you are building your own SSL-protected forms to capture credit card information or you are using a commercial e-commerce product, always make sure that credit card numbers and other sensitive information is encrypted if it is stored in your local system. That way, by keeping it secure in this fashion, if your systems are compromised, the encrypted information – and your customers – will be protected.
Previous << Getting Paid
Next >> Promoting Your Store
See Also:
Related Posts:
- Selecting a Location for Your Web Store - Just as with a bricks-and-mortar store, selecting the location of your Web store is critical to its success. Perhaps the easiest of all e-commerce sites...
- How to Receive Payment at Your Web Store - Although the majority of payments in Web stores are made through traditional credit card transactions, web store owners need to be in a position to...
- How to Build a Web Store and Start Selling Online - Interested in setting up a Web store? Don’t know where to begin? Then start here! Prospective Web store merchants can be overwhelmed by the sheer...
- How to Receive Orders in Your Web Store - Receiving Orders Although most Web stores are probably set up with the expectation that the majority of orders will be received through the Web, the...
- Enabling Technologies – Smart Cards - Introduction At first glance, smart cards look like normal credit or debit cards. However, closer examination reveals the absence of a magnetic stripe as smart...