As the owner of an eCommerce business, you’ll appreciate just how important the security of your website is. Firstly, you will rely on your website to be fully operational at all times to help you secure the revenue you need to thrive and grow, and secondly, you have an obligation to make sure your customer data and information is safe and secure.
This is where something called ‘penetration testing’ really comes into its own, as this can help afford you peace of mind for the online stability of your eCommerce site. To find out more about what this involves and why it’s so important, take a look below:
‘Penetration Testing’ Explained
This is sometimes also known as ‘pentesting’ and basically it assesses your eCommerce website or platform for vulnerabilities and will show you where your site could be accessed and where security may need improving.
How it Works
There are companies who can carry out penetration testing and the process of this can vary, but typically it will involve a team of computer experts and analysts looking over your site and looking for ways in – in a manner of speaking. This could be accessing your data, your inner systems or even obtaining IP addresses.
This doesn’t have to be on a live website either, you could also ask a penetration testing team to try an access any new applications or other sites that you haven’t rolled-out yet, to again assess the security of these before they are online.
Why it’s Important
As alluded to at the start, some of the more obvious reasons why penetration testing can be important is that if your website is allowing unauthorised access it could risk your customer data falling into the wrong hands. On top of this though, if your website was to suffer a cyber-attack you lose valuable business hours and it can also harm your reputation.
Most importantly though, this process can give you a chance to put the right steps in place to get your eCommerce website safe and secure. Often the companies who do this testing will also offer advice and support in how you can go about putting the right security steps in place.
So, don’t leave it to chance with your company’s website, invest in the protection that ‘pentesting’ can provide. If you have concerns about paying for this you should treat the money you spend as something that will safeguard your business in the long-term and ultimately it will more than pay for itself.
