These days, it seems as though everything is done online. From shopping to banking, to business operations and more, “digitalizing” everyday activities has become the norm. 

Unfortunately, what has also become the “norm” are advanced cyber attacks that wreak havoc on even the most seemingly secure and well-established businesses.

Not up to date on the most well-known security breaches? Take a look:

2013 — Over 3 billion Yahoo accounts are compromised in what is still the biggest data breach in the internet era. Adding to that, Target POS systems were infected with malware that effectively swiped credit and debit card information of customers paying for their purchases.

2014 — eBay requests over 145 million users to change their passwords due to a data breach that made passwords and other personal information vulnerable to attack.

2017 — Equifax joins the ranks in a data breach that compromised data of 143 million Americans and resulted in thousands of stolen identities.

Scary right?

And these are just the highly sensationalized instances affecting big name brands.

Imagine what kind of damage is being done to run of the mill online businesses that don’t warrant publicity but still affect the customer, and business, all the same.  

Securing customer data, whether you’re a new startup that has recently launched, or a business with years of experience should always be a priority.

And we’re here to tell you why.

What is Data Security?

Data security is the process of protecting personal and financial information from unwanted access.

For instance, if you run an online business, any data you collect from customers and secure from outside attack can be considered data security.

You can implement data security using a variety of means.

For instance, antivirus, data encryption, firewalls, two-factor authentication, software patches, and updates are all a part of securing customer data.

Here are some examples of the type of data you should be securing:

• Full names
• Email addresses
• Phone numbers
• Birthdates
• Purchase history
• Credit card or other financial information

That said, as an online business owner, it’s your responsibility to protect all data related to customers from being used by others for malicious means.

Data Security: Why It’s Important

There are several reasons why you might secure your customer’s data.

Let’s take a look at the most important and the steps you can take to ensure your customers’ data is safe.

1. Data Security Instills Trust

When people know their personal and financial information is safe, they are more likely to do business with you.

After all, no one willingly hands over their most sensitive data to a business that mismanages that data and lets it get into the wrong hands.

And with major data breaches such as the ones mentioned above frequenting the news more than ever, it’s not surprising people are fearful handing over that data to new businesses they don’t trust yet.

Luckily, there are ways to boost trust people have in your business.

To start, you can use trustmarks, which are logos from external accreditors that say it’s safe to shop on your website.

Some of the most popular are McAfee, Verisign, PayPal, and BBB.

You can also install a Secure Sockets Layer, or SSL, which encrypts data that is sent from your site visitor’s browser to your web server.

The best way to tell whether an online business has an SSL is to look at their URL:

If there is an HTTPS before the URL, as opposed to an HTTP, you can trust that your data is secure.

2. Data is Great for Building Business

You can use the data you collect on customers, both old and new, for marketing campaigns to build your business.

After all, that’s why marketers work so hard to build big email lists.

And since email has the highest ROI of all marketing techniques, collecting data such as names and email addresses is crucial to any online business’ success.

The problem is, if you don’t take the time to properly secure the forms you use to collect data from customers, you could end up losing all that data to hackers.

This is true for online order forms, email subscribe forms, or even simple contact forms.

When you collect information from leads, use a solution that takes a proactive approach to data security.

For example, if you want to build a bigger email list, consider using WPForms.

This simple form solution has the following security features:

• Built-in anti-spam honeypot functionality
• Invisible Google reCAPTCHA
• Custom captcha questions

Additionally, you can add a custom Privacy Policy to your forms that people can click on and view, as well as add a statement to your forms ensuring people you’ll never sell their data or misuse it.

Taking a Proactive Approach to Data Security

As you can see, collecting people’s data is crucial to the growth and success of your business.

There are typical reasons for gathering information, such as credit card data, to secure online sales.

In addition, there are marketing reasons for wanting to collect people’s data and use it to encourage repeat sales, promote upcoming product launches, and more.

But there is a still a problem with the way online shop owners handle security breaches.

Despite implementing simple strategies such as adding trustmarks to your website, installing an SSL certificate, or using secure platforms when collecting data, most people take a reactive approach to securing the data they collect.

However, if you really want to make sure your site stays secure, you should consider using managed SIEM.

More powerful than any of the other security measures you may have added to your website, managed SIEM services take a proactive approach to security threats.

In fact, they aim to stop security breaches before they become a problem and cause damage.

You can expect the following services when you enlist the help of a real-time security monitoring company:

• 24/7 managed security monitoring of all systems and incoming traffic
• Intrusion detection and prevention, with immediate solution implementation
• Data loss prevention measures
• System penetration tests for revealing weaknesses and installing patches before an intrusion

With the right security measures in place, your chances of having to deal with a security breach are significantly reduced.

This not only means less time you have to spend fixing the damage done, it means less money (and customers) you lose because of a site invasion.

Final Thoughts

Securing the data you collect from site visitors is an important part of staying in business.

With so much competition available for customers to choose from, you can bet people won’t come to your website if they think their information isn’t safe.

And if your business does experience a security breach, you might not recover like some of the more well-established brands have in the past.

Don’t fall victim to a security breach and lose everything you’ve worked so hard for.

Instead, invest some time and money into securing your online business, and the data you collect from site visitors, so people trust your brand and your business can continue to grow.