E Commerce security

What is e-commerce security?

E-commerce security is protection the various e-commerce assets from unauthorized access, its use, or modification.

What is an e-commerce threat?

In simple words, you can say that using the internet for unfair means with an intention of stealing, fraud and security breach.

There are various types of e-commerce threats. Some are accidental, some are purposeful, and some of them are due to human error. The most common security threats are phishing attacks, money thefts, data misuse, hacking, credit card frauds, and unprotected services.

Inaccurate management-One of the main reason for e-commerce threats is poor management. When security is not up to the mark, it poses a very dangerous threat to the networks and systems. Also, security threats occur when there are no proper budgets are allocated for the purchase of anti-virus software licenses.

Price Manipulation-Modern e-commerce systems often face price manipulation problems. These systems are fully automated; right from the first visit to the final payment getaway. Stealing is the most common intention of price manipulation. It allows an intruder to slide or install a lower price into the URL and get away with all the data.

Snowshoe Spam-Now spam is something which is very common. Almost each one of us deals with spam emails in our mailbox. The spam messages problem has never been actually solved, but now it is turning out to be a not so general issue. The reason for this is the very nature of a spam message. Spam is something which is sent by one person, but unfortunately, new development is taking place in the cyber world. It is called as snowshoe spam. Unlike regular spam it is not sent from one computer but is sent from many users. In such a case it becomes difficult for the anti-spam software to protect the spam messages.

Malicious code threats-These code threats typically involve viruses, worms, Trojan horses.

• Viruses are normally external threats and can corrupt the files on the website if they find their way in the internal network. They can be very dangerous as they destroy the computer systems completely and can damage the normal working of the computer. A virus always needs a host as they cannot spread by themselves.
• Worms are very much different and are more serious than viruses. It places itself directly through the internet. It can infect millions of computers in a matter of just a few hours.
• A Trojan horse is a programming code which can perform destructive functions. They normally attack your computer when you download something. So always check the source of the downloaded file.

Hacktivism-The full form of Hacktivism is hacking activism. At first, it may seem like you should hardly be aware of this cyber threat. After all, it is a problem not directly related to you. Why should you be bothered at all? However, that’s not the case. Firstly hacktivists do not target directly to those associated only with politics. It can also be a socially motivated purpose. It is typically using social media platforms to bring to light social issues. It can also include flooding an email address with so much traffic that it temporarily shuts down.

Wi-Fi Eavesdropping-It is also one of the easiest ways in e-commerce to steal personal data. It is like a “virtual listening” of information which is shared over a Wi-Fi network which is not encrypted. It can happen on the public as well as on personal computers.

Other threats-Some other threats which include are data packet sniffing, IP spoofing, and port scanning. Data packet sniffing is also normally called as sniffers. An intruder can use a sniffer to attack a data packet flow and scan individual data packs. With IP spoofing it is very difficult to track the attacker. The purpose here is to change the source address and give it such a look that it should look as though it originated from another computer.

Ways to combat e-commerce threats

Developing a thorough implementation plan is the first step to minimize a cyber threat.

Encryption-It is the process of converting a normal text into an encoded text which cannot be read by anyone except by the one who sends or receives the message.

Having digital certificates

It is a digital certificate which is issued by a reliable third party company. A digital certificate contains the following things the name of the company (Only in EV SSL Certificate), the most important digital certificate serial number, expiry date and date of issue. An EV SSL Certificate is necessary which provides a high level of authentication to your website. The very function of this kind of certificate is to exclusively protect an e-commerce website from unwanted attacks such as Man-In_middle Attack.  Also, there are different Types of SSL Certificates available (such as Wildcard SSL, SAN, SGC, Exchange Server certificate, etc.) which you can choose according to the need of your website.

Perform a security audit-a routine examination of the security procedures of the firm.