Archive

Tag: SSL Certificate

Best Ways to Secure Your Ecommerce Website

An eCommerce Website will allow a customer to purchase a product from the internet rather than buying it from a local store. Customers can place orders, carry out payments, view shipping details of the product, and are provided with customer service. 

Why Is Securing An Ecommerce Website Important?

Security is one of the important features that should be present in order to build a reputed eCommerce website. A secure e-commerce website will increase the traffic to the website. It also promotes the brand name and provides credibility to its customers. 

Ways To Secure An Ecommerce Website

In order to develop a reputed brand name and acquire the trust of customers or clients, it is necessary for an e-commerce website to be secure. As there are a huge number of attacks being carried out every second by different hackers around the world, securing a website is very important. Secured e-commerce can be safe from various malware and viruses and other vulnerability attacks. There are several ways through which an e-commerce website can be secured. 

1. SSL Certificate

SSL certificate is said to be a digital form of a certificate that is used to authenticate the identity of a website and provides a connection that is encrypted. SSL is abbreviated as Secure Socket Layer. It is a security protocol that builds an encrypted link from the web browser to a web server. It simply means that it enables a secure connection between a client and server. There are three categories of SSL certificates that are well recognized, they are:

  • Extended Validation (EV)
  • Organization Validation (OV)
  • Domain Validation (DV)

The Certificate Authorities (CAs) issue the SSL certificate. It is necessary for all websites that ask for personal pieces of information like name, address of residence, contact number, email address, card details including CVV number, etc to the customers. Both paid and free SSL certificates can be purchased. 

As an SSL certificate creates a secure link between the client and the server by encrypting the data that is being transferred it is required to have an SSL certificate to have a secure e-commerce website. SSL certificates protect the website from unnecessary concerns. They make it hard for hackers to intercept the data and avoid man-in-the-middle attacks. So it is advised for all the websites that store the personal information of customers to have an SSL certificate in order to save the privacy of their customers. 

2. Detecting Bots As In Robots

A bot is short for an internet robot or web robot. Bots are software applications that carry out automated tasks in cyberspace. Bots are used to carry out large-scale attacks or used for sending numerous messages. Bots are often used in the web crawling process. Most of the web traffic is said to be carried out by bots. Bots are developed to stimulate an activity that is very similar to humans. They can run even without any instructions from a human. There are several different types of bots that are developed to carry out various functions or attacks. 

Bot Detection Technology

This is a technology that is used to detect attacks that are suspected to come from an automated robot. They detect the presence of automatic bots and block the traffic that is caused by the website. 

Using Bot Detection technology is needed to detect the presence of bots. Bots commonly carry out Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks and Denial of service attacks (DoS). These attacks are intended to bring down a system or a network and make it inaccessible for intended or legitimate users. To make the e-commerce website available to its customers at all times Bot Detection Technology should be used. 

3. Update On A Regular Basis

Regular updates should be carried out in order to maintain an e-commerce website in a secure manner. Updates carried out regularly will avoid vulnerabilities as they will be patched. Hackers usually carry out attacks on outdated or unpatched websites, regular updates will avoid such attacks to be successful. Even a small loophole will be enough for a hacker to perform a deadly attack. A website with continuous breaches or frequent malware attacks can not be a website with credibility. 

In order to maintain a reputed website where the customers feel safe in sharing personal information, it is necessary to keep the website updated and away from all types of viruses.  It is advised to ensure that all the extensions and websites are updated regularly. Unwanted or unnecessary concerns can be avoided by simply keeping the site updated.

4. Web Application Firewall (WAF)

WAF is abbreviated to Web Application Firewall. These firewalls are used in content filtering, monitoring the outbound, and inbound flow of requests, blocking the request from suspicious activities, and maintaining the proper flow of website traffic. It is said to have a better focus on application traffic. It also provides an analysis of data flow. Web Application Firewall makes sure that all the unwanted requests are blocked and keeps the website away from unwanted bot requests. Web Application Firewall blocks Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks and Denial of Service attacks (DoS). 

Blocking viruses and malicious software is one of the main features of the Web Application Firewall. Many cyber attacks can be prevented with the use of these firewalls. They provide in-depth security to all its users. Web Application Firewall focuses on protecting the site at all costs. Malicious site traffic is also blocked through WAF. Since the Web Application Firewall (WAF) has numerous advantages it can be made use of to the fullest and ensure that the website is secured at all times.

5. Captcha

Captcha is said to be a test, where the computer determines whether the user is a human or a bot. Captcha is a challenge-response test mechanism. A Captcha test can be of different types. Some Captcha tests involve words whereas the other involves pictures. In the case of the word Captcha, the user will be asked to enter text in a box, the text might include numbers and lower and upper case alphabets. 

In the case of picture Captcha, the user will be asked to select several pictures from a group of options. If the user clears the test they will be allowed to visit the website. This is a great way to avoid bots, as bots will not be able to move past this, as they can not clear these tests so they get blocked. 

6. Encryption Of Sensitive Data

Sensitive data might include financial statements, personal information like name, address of residence, contact numbers, mail address, card or bank details, account number, PIN, CVV  number, etc. A website should not only collect these types of sensitive data in a safe manner but also store these in a secure manner. 

Storing data in a secure manner can be carried out by encrypting them. With the help of a fine algorithm and hashing techniques, sensitive data can be encrypted in a fine manner. When the data is encrypted it will be hard or nearly impossible for attackers or hackers to decrypt them. 

Conclusion

As the security guard is important for the building all these security measures that are mentioned above are very important when it comes to protecting the digital space as this prevents any potential attacks on the website like brute force, a man in the middle, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks and Denial of Service attacks (DoS), etc.

As all those threats put the user’s privacy and safety at risk, the website owner should take proper measures to keep them safe and provide the best possible security for their customers.

Why You Must Have An SSL Certificate

We use the internet for everything these days, from sending crucial information over the world to purchasing and selling goods and services. With the rise in the usage of the internet, cybersecurity has become a serious concern. The reality is that there are dangerous cyber-crooks who look for chances anywhere and everywhere to get their hands on your data. Fortunately, there are numerous ways to protect oneself online. If you have a website, you should use an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate to protect it.

If you have a website, even if it’s a simple one, you’re probably wondering if you need an SSL certificate. With all of your other expenses building up, you could be tempted to forego one more bill. You may have also heard a lot about SSL certificates. However, what exactly is the big deal about these certificates, and do you need one for your website? 

A Glance At SSL Certificate

An SSL certificate or a TLS certificate is a kind of digital file that secures and authenticates your website. It ties your company’s cryptographic key with the brand, ensuring that anyone else can not use it. It’s an important part of establishing a protected website, and it’s what causes the protected padlock to appear in the URL bar. It’s also what causes the “HTTPS” to emerge at the start of the URL. An SSL Certificate establishes an encrypted connection between your website server and a visitor’s browser after it is installed.

HTTPS is a secure protocol, While HTTP is not. Anyone with a basic understanding of things would know that it is much preferable to use a secure form of mechanism to share private and sensitive data than to use an insecure one.  

If an insecure HTTP protocol is employed by users to create a link to websites that do not have SSL/ TLS certificates, then the data is sent across untrustworthy connections. That private information is moving around on the internet for hackers to steal and manipulate and then later exploit. The advantage of utilizing connections with sites that possess SSL/ TLS certificates is that cybercriminals are not able to access your data since it is encrypted. Encrypted data cannot be intercepted by anyone.

In its most basic form, the SSL certificate allows you to encrypt data that travels between your customers’ clients as well as your server. SSL achieves this by permitting your server to authenticate itself to customers. 

Technically, this certificate provides your web server with data and instructions which can be utilized to create safe interactions with users. Previously, all these were accomplished using the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)  protocol. But now, the TLS protocol (also known as the transport layer security) is the preferred secure protocol. As a result, we previously said that these are TLS certificates. 

What Is The Need For An SSL Certificate?

It was announced in late 2014 by Google that security would be a ranking consideration. When you have an SSL certificate installed on your site, it gives you a slight growth in Google ranking. Google Chrome began labeling websites that gather login and payment card details as insecure in 2017.

The latest development, which occurred in July 2018, had an impact on everyone. That’s when Chrome began labeling any site without an SSL certification as ‘Not a Secure website.’ Regardless of whether data collection takes place by a website or not, Google is hinting that secure websites will become the norm. 

New rollouts are expected to happen all through 2018, and Chrome will no longer label secure websites with a green colour padlock. Rather, SSL-secured websites will display black lettering without any padlock. This would hint at the normality of SSL in the industry. As opposed to this, websites that do not have SSL certificates would be marked with a red warning signifying that it is not secure. 

Risks Of Not Having An SSL Certificate

There has been a massive surge in the complaints reported about cybercrime all over the world. This, of course, emphasizes the significance of data protection and security. SSL/TLS certificates are merely one of many important cogs in the complicated data security mechanism. Failing to get an SSL certificate makes your website and your users vulnerable to various threats. 

If your website does not possess one, it will be flagged by Google as insecure. Websites in the hold of SSL certificates are provided a greater preference by Google. This would subsequently spell bad news for your business. Your rival companies with SSL certificates would be able to top you in Google’s ratings, even if you had made more efforts.

Apart from this, there are other consequences of not possessing an SSL certificate.

  • Attacks: A mitM attack happens if a cybercriminal intercepts data transmitted between users’ web customers and the server, as we’ve already discussed. An SSL certificate is much more than a ‘nice-to-have’ for your website. They are now considered indispensable. A secure website is ensured through this for you and your visitors. 
  • Data leaks: When you’re not using a secure and safe connection that is encrypted, there’s a risk of data leakage in situations where you send or receive data.
  • Phishing Attacks: This occurs, when your site fails to have an SSL certificate, you are also failing to verify your site and your company. Because customers can’t tell the difference between genuine websites and sketchy ones, your brand is ultimately more likely at the risk of phishing attempts.
  • Suspicious Browsers: We all wish to have our website at the top of the search results when the name of your brand is entered into a search engine. Moreover, few people know that if you don’t use an SSL/TLS certification on your own website, the main browsers would not be able to trust it. These include Chrome and Firefox as well.
  • Noncompliance: Not having a TLS certificate for your website creates more problems. There is a chance that it might result in noncompliance difficulties with industry laws including GDPR, HIPAA, FIPS, CCPA, and PCI DSS.

Conclusion

While customers believe they are getting more security-aware, fraudsters are adapting and coming up with new ways to deceive them. These evil guys are finding more and more novel tricks that would help them in defrauding people and businesses and causing general havoc. An SSL certificate not only helps you earn your client’s trust but also protects their data against man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks.

An SLS certificate is not a necessary prerequisite for opening up your website. However, if you fail to acquire one, the chances of your company achieving success are substantially reduced. Since most search engines would not trust you either, you would have a hard time establishing an online presence.

Check These Add-Ons Before Buying Web Hosting for Your Website

One of the greatest things that we have observed over time is that people do have specific choices when they are selecting the type of hosting they want for their websites. For sure, hosting is something that everyone should think about seriously if they think that website is an integral part of their business. To be honest, in 2021, a website is the most important part of any business because of SEO. If you are not searchable on Google or any search engine that users prefer, there is no use of a website. And, if your website is searchable and is not running well if the server is not responding properly, you are damaging your business on your own. This is the reason why everyone should pay attention to specific details when deciding the hosting plan that is good for your website. 

So, in this article, we are specifically going to talk about the Addons you should be looking at when you are buying web hosting. There are multiple service providers that you can choose from. All of them have something special, and that is their USP. Today we will just broadly see which are those Addons that anyone who is going to buy a hosting plan in near future should know about.

Types of Hosting

The first thing that we need to know is the types of hosting that one can choose from. This is important as all of them have different features and limitations and that should be known to the users. Only once the user knows what is suitable in the broader category, they can go and find the addons. Let’s first get into the categories and know about different hosting in brief:

1. Dedicated Hosting:

Just as the name suggests, this hosting is dedicated to just one website or one user. There is no other user involvement in the server or any part of the hosting. This is the reason why people go for it and why it is the best-performing hosting service. The only drawback is that most of the time is not in the budget of the users. That creates problems but that is something that is not a worrisome issue as there are cheaper alternatives like VPS. You can read about it ahead.

2. Shared Hosting:

Just can be explained like the shared version of the dedicated hosting. The users have to share hosting for their websites. Everything gets shared when we think of this hosting type. This is something that divides everything. But, this is the perfect type of sharing for websites that are just entering the digital arena. This can give you the perfect start, but you will have to upgrade as you go ahead in the journey. Things can start getting different when you get more users when you have more data that has to be stored on the backend, and more. This is why, if you have an entry-level website, then this type of hosting would work perfectly for you.

3. VPS Hosting:

VPS or Virtual Private Server hosting that can be used as a middle ground that users can find between the shared and the dedicated hosting. There are no other users but it, not a dedicated one. When the users want better facilities than the shared hosting and lower prices than the dedicated hosting, they go for VPS hosting. You get to operate a virtual server that works on top of a physical operating system. Here you can install different software and use it for the hosting as well. This is one of the best ways for businesses who want something good from their website but don’t have a lot of money.

4. Cloud Hosting:

Most people might not know what this exactly is but this is exactly what you are thinking. This is a website that is hosted over a cloud. Generally, what happens is that a website is hosted over a network of computers. Even the VPS is created over a physical operating system, and that is how it works. Here, in Cloud hosting, everything happens over the cloud. Data storage, other things, everything happens on the cloud, and the best part is that even if you lose your data, the cloud data recovery features can get it back for you. This is something that might not be possible when you are working on the normal servers. This might be the newest of the hosting services but it surely is worth all the hype that it has created in the world.

These were some of the hosting plans that we thought you should know about before you know about the Addons that you should be looking at. Now, when you know this, let’s move to the main part.

Add-Ons that You Should Look For When Buying Web Hosting For Your New Website

Addons are just some of the additional services that you get with the software or digital services that you buy. When you buy web hosting for your website, it is important to look at some of the things that can help your website. Below mentioned addons are not just important but necessary; without them, your website might not feel complete. 

1. SSL Certificate:

SSL or Secured Socket Layer certificate is important for any website. It is always offered whenever you buy a hosting plan but still, it is better that you check for it. Most hosting providers make sure that it is available for all users. This certificate encrypts all the information that is sent out from the website and it decrypts it only when it reaches the destination. In this sense, it saves it from any kind of intermediate interception. There can be modifications in the data that is being sent by the website owner if they don’t pay attention to it. Considering the importance of this certificate for the website, you should check for it every time you are buying a hosting plan or you are upgrading it to a better one.

2. Automated Backup:

It is always great if you have additional features that help you with automated backups. There might be situations when your website crashes, or it might get hacked and many other things. This is something that you should look for in the hosting plan.

3. Security:

The security of your website is important, and you need some addons that can take care of it.  This is important to maintain the credibility of the website. You may take user signups, and the security of all the information that they provide your website is your responsibility.

4. Business Email:

Business email hosting is really important. It tells your clients or customers that you are legit and also gives you a professional email setup. This can be used to interact with the team and send out communication from the point of the website.

Conclusion

These addons are just basics, and there are more add-ons that you can get when you buy web hosting plans for your brand new website. It is important that you look at all of them and then decide which ones can help you improve your website. Add whatever can improve your website’s performance and security. Web hosting is something that you need to pay attention to a lot, especially in 2021.