American columnist Bill Vaughan once said that “To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer.” Almost any computer user can tell you that it takes so much longer to recover from a computer mistake than it does to make the mistake in the first place. And because more people are using computers today than ever before, the risk of mistake is higher than ever as well.
One way that you can protect your computer is to only visit secure websites. Secure websites begin with the prefix HTTPS instead of the standard HTTP. If the website does not allow you to use the secure connection, you might receive an error or your firewall might not allow you to connect to that website at all.
Importance of Using Secure Servers
Computers are no longer just an office tool meant to be used for checking email or doing other work for a job in some type of professional industry. People do everything online these days, from sharing what they’re having for dinner and trading family photos to running a business or updating their financial information. But the more that people use the internet, the greater the risk that some type of fraudulent information can occur.
One type of fraudulent activity is breach of sensitive data. And for businesses responsible for securing other people’s data, the cost to fix mistakes can be high. According to a series of studies by the Ponemon Institute, data breaches are on the rise and the cost to recover from them is more expensive than ever. The findings of the study found that recovering from data breaches involving customer information cost anywhere from $750,000 to $31 million. (www.ponemon.org)
Online Merchants and Customer Security
Finding an online web hosting service to publish your e-retail site can be more taxing than trying to figure out your taxes. How do you know who to trust? Are you sure your website is visible to all of your customers regardless of their geographic location? And if publishing your own website is so easy, can’t you just do everything yourself?
The answer is no. Hiring the services of a web hosting service is imperative, but it doesn’t have to be expensive. You can find cheap web hosting services that offer the same security as the more expensive companies. Having a secure website not only keeps your customers’ information safe, but it also helps you build trust with them.
When people are buying, they want to know they can trust the person selling them something. Here are some specific reasons why you need to find web hosting services that can offer you the best security, regardless of their fees.
Protect from hackers – Theft is just as illegal online as it is offline. Using a secure web server is the number one way to prevent people from hacking into your website and stealing valuable information.
Keeping information safe – Customer information such as credit card, bank routing, and social security numbers could be used to not only steal money from your customer but hackers could also steal and possibly sell your customer’s personal identity as well.
Link up with other professionals – Linking your site to a trusted name like Amazon or PayPal can help build trust with your customers. That is because customers are making the transaction through a third-party site.
Help build confidence – When e-merchants use secure servers with things like a Certificate of Authority to prove their legitimacy, it helps build confidence among the consumers.
Additional Security Strategies
Of course, there are other things you could do to beef up security on your own. When combined with the fact that you use authentic web hosting services, your site will be that much more secure than people who try to host their own domains. The primary thing you can do is to perform regular upgrades on your software.
Encourage users who visit your site to use passwords that combine both capital and lowercase letters with numbers is another great way to beef up security. Perform regular backups and make sure whoever is publishing your web – the person called the webmaster – knows to give out the least amount of privileges.
Using web hosting services doesn’t have to cost your business a lot of money, and it can actually save your budget by preventing your site from being hacked. Don’t discount a web hosting service just because it has reasonable prices. When selecting one of these companies for the purpose of publishing your website, look at things like their track record with their other clients and their webpage of testimonials and reviews.
About the Author
Internet marketer James Martell enjoys reading sites like http://internetbusinessbts.com because he knows firsthand the joy and satisfaction associated with working from home by doing what you love online. Working from home also gives James plenty of time to spend with his family which includes his wife Arlene and two remaining kids still at home and visits from his granddaughter.
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