How Hackers Reduce Risks of Personal Data Leaks in E-commerce

Personal data leaks are a serious threat to both users and businesses. But did you know that you can rely on hackers to help keep your e-commerce secure? Check it out!

One of the key considerations when starting an e-commerce business is ensuring information security. Every online store must be aware of the increasingly frequent threat: personal data leaks.

If your company hasn't thought about this yet, it's time to pay attention! Online stores need to provide a secure environment for users and customers. After all, if you’re not prepared, malicious individuals certainly will be.

There are various ways to protect your e-commerce from personal data leaks, and you can even enlist the help of hackers to secure your site. Want to know how? Keep reading!

Personal Data Leaks: Why Is This a Serious Risk for Your E-Commerce?

Brazil is one of the countries most affected by data security issues worldwide. For instance, in the first quarter of 2021 alone, there were over 3.2 billion cyberattack attempts.

Additionally, the Konduto Fraud Report 2021 analyzed 244 million online orders, representing 35 billion Brazilian reais. Of these, 1.3 billion were attempted frauds!

Beyond the financial loss from fraud, there is also the added risk of personal data leaks: the General Data Protection Law (LGPD).

LGPD is Brazilian legislation that regulates activities involving personal data, aiming to ensure privacy protection, transparency, and data security. Created in 2020, it was in August 2021 that the law began fining companies that exposed personal data.

Not to mention the damage to your company’s reputation and the loss of customer trust in the event of a personal data leak.

How to Keep Your E-Commerce Secure?

Data security in e-commerce ensures that companies do not misuse sensitive information such as CPF numbers, addresses, credit and debit card numbers. It also prevents personal data leaks, whether through ransomware or other cyberattacks.

To keep your e-commerce secure, you need to follow certain criteria, including:

• Data Encryption: Using encryption in e-commerce is a way to protect digital business data. It’s especially important when the site requires personal and sensitive customer information. An SSL certificate installed on your site ensures secure communication between the web server and the user, turning customer data—such as credit card details and passwords—into cryptographic codes. This ensures that only the server can read the data.
• Daily Backups: This is crucial for preventing personal data leaks. Performing daily backups of information in your system prevents the loss of transactions and files. With daily backups in a secure environment, data can be recovered in case of failures as soon as the connection is restored.
• Access Control: Not always is a malicious hacker responsible for a personal data leak. This misconception has been debunked, and many companies now rely on ethical hackers to secure their online environments. Anyone with access to your files can put your e-commerce at risk. Therefore, it’s essential to provide good access control to sensitive information, setting parameters and rules for server access.
• Fraud Prevention Tools: There are various tools available to create barriers against potential intruders. A good fraud prevention tool should include, among other functions:
  • Request and validate credit card security codes.
  • Track purchase devices by analyzing the buyer's geolocation, which helps identify the country, state, and city of the purchase.
  • Customize access for different employee levels, allowing, restricting, and controlling access.
• Registration Requirements: Your e-commerce security can start even before the purchase takes place. At the registration stage, requiring multiple forms of verification can help prevent security issues. This process avoids the registration of malicious users and is simple to implement. Examples include reCAPTCHA and double opt-in email (where the user must confirm their registration via email), which prevent registrations from third-party contacts or fake emails via bots.
• Constant Monitoring: Online work is continuous. Therefore, security monitoring tools for your e-commerce are essential. One such strategy is Bug Bounty. Bug bounty programs, like those from BugHunt, use crowdsourcing to combat cybercriminals in partnership with ethical hackers. Thousands of professionals come together on the platform to continuously test e-commerce systems and other areas, united by a common goal: making the internet a safer place for everyone.

Work with Prevention: Invest in Bug Bounty

Waiting for an attack to occur before protecting your site can be costly. With LGPD in effect and imposing fines on companies, personal data leaks have become a threat not only to users but also to businesses.

Bug Bounty is an excellent tool and strategy for continuously testing your e-commerce systems. With BugHunt’s platform, you have a secure environment for bug bounty testing and a trusted network of ethical hackers ready to help make your business more secure.

Want to learn more about our platform? Click here to find out more!