What is a Vulnerability Scanner?
The internet is a wonderful tool that has become a part of life that most can’t live without any more. But with the great things it also brings horrible things as well. Thieves and criminals now have more ways and means to be able to steal and attack people from the comforts of their own home. As a website owner, I am sure you are doing all you can to protect your computer and website from the dangers that lurk and a vulnerability scanner can be one important thing to add to your list of security measures if you don’t already have it.
A vulnerability scanner is a computer program designed to seek out and detect weaknesses in computers, websites, applications and networks. By checking your system against a database of known vulnerabilities, scanners can detect and then report holes in the security system. This is super important to have in the fight against online threats.
A vulnerability scanner is a bit different from your anti-virus software, in that it isn’t able to prevent attacks but it is the kind of program that provides awareness of possible dangers. When done by an ASV (approved scanning vendor), vulnerability scanning improves security by providing reports on what kinds of risks or vulnerabilities are found during the scan. These reports not only let you know about what kinds of things are threatening your system, but in what order they should be fixed so that you can increase your site’s efficiency and productivity.
Having anti-virus software is so important to protect your system against viruses, phishing, malware and more, but don’t put vulnerability scanning on the side burner. Having a vulnerability scanner plays an important part in maintaining your network’s security and giving your customer’s a website that they can trust.
Vulnerability Assessment and PCI Scanning
In my search to find out all that I could about PCI Scanning I recently saw the term vulnerability assessment mentioned with PCI Scanning and so I decided to make that my next subject of research. When I started I never thought it would be so difficult to find out how the two were related and after hours of looking I realized that the answer was staring me right in the face.
Vulnerability Assessment is related to PCI Scanning in the fact that they both serve basically the same purpose. They both scan over a subject in order to find any holes in the system that would let any intruders in. They not only help to find any viruses or bugs you might have in your system now, but their main purpose is to scan your system and find any problem areas and fix them in order to prevent any security issues from happening.
While I was learning about vulnerability assessment I found out how important it is to have something that will find these vulnerabilities for you. In this day in age it is important to have a third party helping to protect your online business. There are so many ways to hack into your server and corrupt all that you have worked for and if that isn’t scary enough these hackers are constantly scanning your business looking for holes, and they are constantly finding new ways to get a hold of the sensitive information that is stored on your site.
If you have an online business I would definitely look into getting some type of vulnerability assessment tool such as PCI Scanning to help protect your business. It would be very beneficial to protect yourself from hackers who are constantly changing their tactics by using a third party who can keep up on the latest things that the hackers are doing and scanning your business in order to prevent any security problems.
Website Security: An Ongoing Battle
When you have an online business you know how important the website security for your site can be. There are unfortunately a lot of people out there who are ready and willing to take advantage of any unsuspecting businesses out there that are not on the up and up about website security. As any online business knows it is an ongoing challenge to keep up on all things website security, but definitely necessary.
Website security is constantly changing and evolving. Hackers around the world are figuring out a way past your current website security method as we speak and so we are always trying to stay one step ahead of them by finding better website security methods. A security breach is always possible with the way hackers work these days, but you are definitely on the safer side with your business if you are always in the know about the current website security trends.
Because we are always having to improve our website security methods, there are a lot of simple ways to keep up to date on any new trends that may come out. One of my favorite ways to stay on top of things is to read on social networking sites such as hubpages, squidoo, gather, zimbio, and many others. Just search for website security and you can read a lot of great new articles on the subject and keep up with any new information out there.
It is so important if you have an online business, not to just get your website security into place, and leave it at that. You must be vigilant about keeping up to date on all the latest information about website security. This will keep you, your business, and your customers better protected from hackers and the ongoing battle of website security!
Improve Conversion Rates with McAfee Secure
If you are an online business owner and you want to increase sales, you really should consider some ways to boost your conversion rate. Companies, such as McAfee Secure, can help online business owners improve their conversion rates. So what is a conversion rate anyway?
Conversion rate is the number of people that visit your site and actually do what you want them to. For example, if you get 1000 visitors on your site each day, and 20 of them purchase your product, your conversion rate is 2%. As a website owner, knowing your conversion rate is highly helpful. It helps you to determine the level of trust that your visitors have. Anything over a 3% conversion rate is considered good, but generally conversion rates range from 1-3%. Many people overlook their conversion rates because they are concentrating on getting new customers to their site. It is good to have new visitors, but don’t forget about the ones you already may be getting, or you will be losing more sales.
There are many ways to increase your conversion rate. As mentioned above, trust seals are a really great tactic to get more sales. Because you have been verified by a third party, and you have the image posted on your site to prove so, you will gain more trust from the visitors of your site, which in return means more sales, and an increase in your conversion rate.
Another thing to consider for improving your conversion rate is SSL digital certificates. SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, certificates provide encryption for transferring information over the internet. Having an SSL certificate helps to prevent hackers from stealing private customer information during a transaction. You must have SSL encryption pages when asking for information such as credit cards or social security numbers.
If you want to increase conversion rates, consider split testing. Split testing helps you determine the best area on your site to put things. You can purchase split testing programs that will automatically change content on your site, or that will report the results to you. It will test to see that your site is set up the best way possible to attract more visitors.
The last thing you should consider to increase conversion rate is that you need to display contact information and a privacy policy. Customers are more likely to shop on sites that have their contact info and privacy policies displayed, so they know your business is legitimate and safe.
So when looking to improve your conversion rate, consider companies such as McAfee Secure. They can help verify your business and help you to know what things you need to do to be the best online company you can be!
Website Security Checklist
If you run your own business online, you want to make sure that your website is secure for your customers. Website security is a must, and many don’t realize how much having a secure website increases the trust of your customers, which in return, means more sales for you! Website security is a concern for all businesses and will probably always be high up on the agenda simply because cyber criminals are getting smarter as is technology. This means that they will always strive to find new ways to get pass the website security that we have in place. If you are concerned about website security, but are not sure where to start, here is a checklist of what you need to get started.
Anti-virus Software: This is used to prevent, detect, and remove malware, including computer viruses, worms, and trojan horses. Such programs may also prevent and remove adware, spyware, and other forms of malware. This can be purchased or downloaded via the internet. Special care should be taken when choosing your anti-virus software, as some programs are not effective as others.
Manage Your Website Over Encrypted Connections: Make it a habit to use proven encrypted protocols like SSH to securely access resources and transmit data. When registering new customers for your site, always use maximum encryption. You must give your customers a guarantee that you won’t share their data with any third parties.
Verify That Your Website Is A “Legitimate” Business – Display Trust Marks: Some things that a website should included that show security and trust, are a privacy policy, terms of use, refund policy, testimonials, FAQ/sales support section, digital certificate/data security page, copyright statement on every page, well written “about us” page, and address and phone number contact page. Also, display trust marks or trust seals on your website showing that the site has been verified by a third party. It is important for your customers to know that your website is legitimate and can be trusted.
Have current vulnerability assessments and PCI scanning performed: You should have your website scanned by an approved scanning vendor at least quarterly, but preferably daily. This is important to do, so that any vulnerabilities that are found on your website can be corrected quickly and you won’t suffer any security breaches or downtime, which means lost sales.
Be Proactive and Keep Your Website Updated With New and Changing Security Solutions: Even the most well maintained and antivirus solutions packed into a small business website can have a problem or two from time to time. Protect important information by hosting data backup systems. Keeping your business website secure requires a certain degree of diligence. You may even want to consider hiring a company to help you.
These are just a few of the most important website security measures to get you started. There are more you should think about. Some of these tips make seem like commonsense, but you would be surprised at how many small business owners neglect some or all of them, if for no other reason than just because they are so tied up in the other business priorities. Just remember it is super important. Hopefully this checklist helps.