Have you ever wondered why eCommerce security is important? eCommerce websites often deal with sensitive customer data like credit card or debit card details, addresses, contact numbers, email ids, and bank details. This private information is a piece of gold for malicious people who can use such details to commit fraudulent activities. Therefore, eCommerce sites are prone to attacks such as hacking, phishing, and cross-site scripting, which put shopper data at risk. This means that eCommerce merchants have a responsibility to protect their customers’ data against data breaches.

Data breaches, like never before, are on the rise for all sorts of businesses, including online retailers. Numerous companies have reported security breaches in the past decade. A report published by Shape Security, a cybersecurity firm shows that 80-90% of the people who log in to a retailer's eCommerce website are hackers using stolen customer data. This is the highest percentage of any sector examined in this report.

Also, when shoppers perceive privacy threats, they become cautious about sharing payment information with eCommerce websites. This is the primary reason why data breaches often result in lost customer trust and revenue for even big brands.

If you’re a Shopify store owner, then by now you must be thinking about how to protect your store from being hacked. How can you stop them? Isn’t it?

Fortunately, we’ve compiled a list of things that Shopify merchants should know when it comes to protecting their stores and products from being stolen by hackers using data breaches.

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI CSS)

With so many rules and regulations of data protection and privacy laws in place, complying with these standards is necessary. Fortunately for Shopify merchants, Shopify has taken steps to ensure it adheres to the majority of the requirements. The data stored on Shopify is very minimal, this is great as almost all of the regulations deem it necessary for online commercial companies to practice data minimization. Additionally, Shopify is already PCI CSS compliant.

What is PCI Compliance?

It is used to increase control over the payments to reduce fraudulent activity. Today, it is a security standard for all organizations that handle credit card payments and debit information. Reaching PCI compliance allows the sellers to sell online securely and accept payments from a wide range of vendors that includes Mastercard, Discover, or American Express.

All stores that are hosted on Shopify are PCI compliant by default to ensure shopify security. Indeed, Shopify’s compliance covers 6 PCI standard categories which apply to every store powered by the platform:

• Maintaining a secure network

• Protecting data of the cardholder

• Keeping in place a vulnerability management program

• Implementing strong access control measures

• Regular monitoring and testing of the security network

• Maintaining an information security policy

Inspite of the protocols that already exist when you own a Shopify store, there are other actions e-Merchants must take to make their store as secure as possible, as well as making it easier for customer data to be shared with a customer if they ask for it.

Know how to process data requests

The rules and regulations give consumers the right to access the information eCommerce merchants store on them. So if you get a request from your customer, it is crucial that you understand how to obtain and send customer data.

• The first and foremost step is to ascertain and ensure that the request is coming from the customer in question.

• Ask for identity proofs that you would want for the same with the omission of sensitive data points like passport numbers.

• Once you have verified and sure, go to your Shopify admin page, click Customers, then on the name of the customer, and finally select Request customer data.

• An email will then be sent to the email ID of the store owner containing the requested information. This action can only be completed by the store owner.

Shopify accounts

The customer information is considered sensitive and hence its access should be limited. Therefore, it is advised that you should make use of Shopify accounts. You can create accounts for each member of the eCommerce store to access your Shopify admin page without enabling them to view your customers’ personal data.

This limitation of access can also help in minimizing the likelihood that the hackers will obtain sensitive data as each individual staff member’s computer could not be susceptible to a cyber attack anymore.

Train store members

Remember if your selective online store members have access to your Shopify admin page or they handle any customer data, it is crucial to train them on the importance of protecting data, using it with utmost care, and how to avoid hacking attempts.

The Bottom Line

As eCommerce activities require the collection and use of personal customer information, merchants or managers should be vigilant and be advocate for air-tight security. It’s critical to think about customer data protection and clients if you’re an eCommerce manager or run a large company brand as many big brands like Marriot hotels, Kay jewelers, Macy’s, etc have reported massive breaches of data in the previous years. Neglecting security might have a negative impact. If eCommerce merchants are able to protect the data then they can easily increase customer trust and remove the worries many consumers might have thus helped in creating long-lasting customer relationships.