Individuals and companies must keep their web presence secure to protect themselves, their loved ones, and their businesses. Not doing so might put your existence as a business in jeopardy. Ironically, many of the rules that individuals must adhere to apply equally to organizations that might be functioning in any industry vertical. However, there are many activities that every organization must undertake to assure a secure and compliant web presence. After all, it is the quality of your web presence that will bring you clientele beyond geographic boundaries.
Every Organization Needs a Vibrant Online Presence to Thrive
Since many social and economic decisions are taken on the go ― by individuals in their personal capacity, and C-suite executives, in their official one ― it is vital for every organization to have a strong web presence. However, quite often the challenge is how to provide sufficient information on your web pages without divulging anything which might infringe on users’ privacy. The commonest error that organizations fall into is on the testimonials page, when not only the name, but also the photo of a person is used.
Privacy Is a Serious Business
Many online marketplaces request buyers for reviews of products they have purchased. Since these reviews are usually published on their reviews page with the name of the buyer/reviewer, as well as for how long that person has been customer of that online marketplace; many customers view it as a violation of their privacy, even though the whole purpose of the exercise is to lend an air of authenticity to the products being sold online. If your organization asks for, processes, or stores the credit card information of buyers, then you have to be ultra-careful.
Watch Out for Ransomware and/or Malware Attacks
Customer details can also be compromised if your organization gets hit by malware or ransomware attack. There are numerous ways in which your organization might fall prey to cyberattacks. From not updating software and security definitions to incorrect configurations of firewalls, or software which have little known zero-day vulnerabilities, and plain human error or malicious activity; every organization runs the risk of having its data ― be it at rest, in use, or in transit ― compromised. This would endanger customer confidentiality and privacy. One of the major culprits which can jeopardize user credentials, profile information, and credit card information is insecure cryptographic storage.
Encryption Holds the Key to a Secure Wireless Network
Whether the bulk of your business, or only a small part is carried out online, you should have a secure wireless network, and appropriate encryption protocols to prevent internal business data such as inventory lists, financial transaction history, and other privileged information from being compromised. The last thing you want is to become an easy target for malicious activity. You might want to assess the feasibility of network segmentation which keeps separate networks for distinct functions and departments to ensure that visitors and users cannot access sensitive data even accidentally. You might also want to store sensitive data offsite, such as in the cloud, or in some other distinct geographic location.
Prevent Unauthorized Access and Introduction of Vulnerabilities
Encryption reduces the risk of unauthorized access, thereby reducing the risks to data at rest. Therefore, you can evaluate whether you want encryption at the server level, at the system level using full disk encryption, or at the file system level depending on the likelihood of your organization being a natural target for cyberattacks. An effective information security strategy would take into account whether it is possible for visitors to your website, or users of your services, especially of online marketplaces, to accidentally introduce vulnerabilities.
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