Consumers and businesses agree that security remains a primary concern in the development of e-commerce. Identity theft, stolen credit card information, credit card fraud, hackers are among the most common threats. The dangers are real. As your online business matures, you have to make a real effort to secure your web presence.

Failure to secure your web presence can result in a variety of complications such as financial loss, loss of customers, damage to your credibility, and data loss. Worst of all, it can potentially cost you your business. You have many options to build a secure online business. In the past few years, the number of security related services have grown exponentially. Arming your business with hardware and software is less expensive than you think. The challenge is to stay one step ahead of the bad guys.

Hackers, frauds, and other criminals are constantly searching for the weakest link. Keep in mind that you are not only protecting your business, but your customers. It is common for customers to arrive to websites with their computers already compromised. Your job is to ensure that the shopping experience is safe.

Fortune 500 corporations are frequently reporting security breaches. While it is alarming to read about security violations, many security breaches are never reported. The larger your business the more someone has to gain from breaking into your system. Small companies are just as vulnerable to break in, denial of service attacks, social engineering, and more.

As a business owner you should concentrate on preventative measures as opposed to reactive measures. It may take you days or months to realize your system has been compromised. The resulting damage could have devastating effects on you and your customers. Damaging, sharing, selling user information is a real security threat.

Equally important to providing a secure shopping experience is communicating it to your customers. If your customers don’t trust your site, all the security in the world won’t close the sale for you. Explain it loud and clear throughout your website the measures you took to create a secure environment. Explain what industry standards you use to help keep their information secure.

And make sure you keep your site away form hackers. For a short time, you can get WP Lockdown for only $17.