Secure Your Online Business Now - A Quick Action Guide! :- www.deekpay.com

Starting an online business, or having an online shop, opens up endless opportunities for businesses like yours. You are able to reach a wider customer base, respond quickly to their enquiries and showcase your products in a more cost-effective way. However, online businesses are also more vulnerable to fraud and cyber security threats. Payments are a key part of the online sales process, where you need to provide a secure environment. Some of these steps you need to perform yourself, while others rely on your payment gateway:

1. What can you do?

Ensure the use of Secure Server Layer (SSL)

Is your website secure? Have you encrypted the information on your website using the SSL protocol? If not, then this is exactly what you need to do right now, immediately.The SSL protocol is an essential element that online businesses can use to protect their customers. It ensures that credit card details and other sensitive data shared between your website and external parties remain confidential. Having an SSL certificate on your website shows that it is protected and establishes credibility with your customers.SSL is indicated by a padlock icon in the URL bar and the web address begins with https.

Keep your platform up to date

Whether your platform is built from scratch by a developer or based on a third-party platform, it's important to keep up to date with its latest updates. Content Management Systems (CMS) like WordPress work around the clock to patch security vulnerabilities and release regular patches and updates to make their systems less vulnerable to attack. Therefore, using the latest version of your platform minimises the risk of being hacked. To enhance the security of your platform, install third-party security plugins.

2. What does your gateway need to do?

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliant

PCI DSS is a set of guidelines defined by card organisations such as MasterCard, VISA, Maestro, Discover, JCB and American Express. It guides processors on how to protect sensitive data during online transactions and extensively covers the following:

- Building and maintaining safety nets

- Protection of cardholder data

- Maintenance of the vulnerability management plan

- Implementation of reliable access control measures

- Maintenance of information security policy

- Monitor and test the network

PCI compliance applies to all businesses that process payments online. As a merchant, you don't have to worry about security on your portal and the hassle of PCI compliance. If you choose the right payment gateway, one that is PCI compliant, you can leave the task of adhering to industry security standards to them. Choosing a PCI compliant partner actually means that you have established a secure environment on your website and built trust among your customers. A high level of trust leads to higher conversion rates and better customer retention!

Data encryption and fraud prevention

Online transactions involve the transfer of sensitive data between multiple entities. Ensuring data security is the starting point. Tokenisation of card information, OAuth, fraud prevention solutions and more are key points of concern for security-conscious payment gateways. Tokenisation technology ensures that your customers' sensitive card information remains secure. Card details are passed in the form of a 'token', which is a random string of characters that replaces and protects sensitive information. Fraud prevention solutions work around the clock to protect you from fraud. Transaction speed checks such as volume and value, card issuing country, IP location, pattern detection and real-time blocking capabilities help payment gateways protect you and your customers from fraudulent transactions.

Online payments can be made relatively securely, but there is always the possibility that something could go wrong. Choosing a partner that takes security seriously can certainly significantly reduce the overall level of risk to your website. It is therefore vital that you take all the necessary steps to choose the right payment partner to protect you and your customers' data from being compromised.

Choose a secure payment gateway like PayUmoney today!