E-commerce is still growing tremendously and has an enormous effect on our global economy. The business benefits, such as low operational costs, no need for physical company set-ups and a faster buying/selling procedure, go a long way toward explaining its popularity; however, there is a downside to all this. E-commerce sites are often targeted by hackers looking for quick financial gain. Account security often leaves much to be desired. Fraudsters can fairly easily hack poorly protected accounts in order to retrieve credit card credentials.  To prevent successful hacking attacks, e-commerce websites should follow the guidance issued by the PCI (News - Alert) Security Standards Council that was released earlier in 2013 in order to make sure their customers’ credit card data is stored safely.

Yet, what else can e-commerce websites do to keep their customers’ credentials and credit card information safe?  Not all hackers target the data storage centers of e-commerce websites, since some hackers also target individual accounts. They try to obtain the login (username and password) of individual Web shop accounts to get access to the credit card information. The main problem is that a lot of these accounts are merely protected by a simple username and static password. 


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Nowadays, Web shop owners should all be aware of the importance of implementing a higher level of security to protect their customers’ online accounts.  A lot of people use their e-mail address or name as a username; names of loved ones, dates of birth or a simple “1234” are very commonly chosen as passwords because they are easy to remember. However, since this information can easily be guessed or obtained by hackers, this is not a safe way to protect an online Web shop account.  Website owners cannot obligate their users to choose a very complicated password. Even if they were able to do so, they have to realize that, though complicated passwords offer a higher level of security, they are still not safe enough to protect something as delicate as credit card details.  Adding strong authentication to these online accounts would be the perfect solution.

Today, Web shop owners can use different cloud authentication solutions. There is, for example, MYDIGIPASS.COM, an online authentication platform that is easy to integrate and which terminates all static password vulnerabilities. Once the Web shop has implemented this authentication platform, it protects the customers’ accounts with OTP (one-time password) technology, eliminating the risks for phishing or pharming attempts. It is a hosted platform that arranges the authentication process from A to Z, so Web shop owners can focus on their core business.

An objection often heard is that a lot of Web shop owners see security as a huge cost. However, by using this hosted cloud platform, they do not have to invest in expensive infrastructure and they only have to pay per customer or per transaction. On top of that, they will gain customer trust, because they show an effort in improving password management.

Besides that, e-commerce sites are often reluctant to impose strict security guidelines, fearing this will drive potential customers away. Times are changing though. With recent hacks elaborately reported in the media, consumers have become more and more aware of the fact that their online accounts need protection. They too feel the need to protect their personal information from falling into the wrong hands.  The existing solutions available at the moment, such as cloud authentication platforms, offer different options to online users to authenticate themselves, ranging from downloadable mobile applications and embedded chips on Intel (News - Alert) ITP to hardware authenticators.  Consumers can choose which option they find most pleasant in use, creating the perfect balance between user convenience and security.  

We can conclude that, by implementing a cloud authentication solution, the benefits of implementing security far outweigh the disadvantages, both for website owners and customers alike.