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Last Updated on June 13, 2023
The rise of globalization has helped online businesses thrive as people are able to reach every corner of the world to provide their services and products through technology. However, cyber threats and internet crimes become more likely as your business grows; these crimes include the communication of fraudulent or false representations of you to your consumers using the internet. You need to be able to protect your online business from this happening.
It’s worth making sure that from wherever you’re operating, you are using a secure and safe internet connection. With many more people working remotely, there’s a growing risk for those who are using unstable and less secure WiFi connections.
If you’re working from home or operating remotely, make sure you’ve done your due diligence and looked at internet providers near me online to find the best ones.
Encryption and Passwords
Using passwords that have a mix of upper and lower case letters, symbols and numbers make them harder to crack. The more variation there is, the more secure your password is. Never share your passwords over email, especially if it is not encrypted. Encryption is a method where plain text, like an email, is converted into a secret code that hides the actual meaning. Even the best hackers in the world find it difficult to access encrypted information without a decryption key, such as a password. Encryption is available on most email clients, so you need not worry about setting it up.
When you write an email, encryption protects your information by scrambling it until it reaches the intended recipient where it returns to its original form. Two factor authentication is a way to add an extra layer of security in addition to your password. It requires you to login using more than just your email and password. This means that even if your password is compromised, the threat has to go through another layer of security. Typically, the second factor is a code that is sent via text to your phone.
A secure Domain Hosting Service
Every successful online business needs a professional website. To get any online business on the web, it needs to have a domain (the name of the website). Domain hosts issue domain names so that users are able to visit your website. The US has the most hosted domains in the world with over 107 million. It will do you no good to have an amazing web design and awesome features if you do not have the right domain host. Although free domain hosting is available, it is not a good idea to go for it. Free domain hosting services are notorious for a lack of security. If your business handles money in any way, e.g. online checkouts, free hosting is a threat to your customers’ credentials.
Businesses that use free domains are vulnerable to hackers, viruses and many kinds of malware, whereas premium domains go out of their way to protect you from these dangers. Another reason to avoid free hosts is that you will lose money. Many free domains cannot handle large amounts of traffic. So, if your business becomes popular and starts to grow, it cannot handle the increased traffic. This leads to slow operating speeds on the website and possibly crashing. Any business owner knows that any lack of performance like this means you lose customers and customers are money. It also negatively affects your SEO, which is even more money lost. The good news is that good premium host are not expensive. If your business grows you can simply upgrade your services.
Legal protection
A 2017 survey on 2000 US consumers found that 91% consent to the terms and conditions without going over them. Although this is the case, you need to include them on your website to help in the event of legal issues, especially if you collect personal information such as email addresses. Be careful of who you partner with and what your online presence is. The internet does not forget any bad press you may be involved in, whether it’s your own or a partner of yours. Choose your business partners and collaborations carefully to avoid any trouble by association.
Follow these tips and more to be well on your way to protecting your online business.
