Network security vendors offer solutions that help protect your personal data and online activities. They provide tools that enable wireless providers, cloud-based services, and internet service providers to identify and block unwanted messaging traffic, such as spam and phishing attempts.
Network security solutions include features like spam management, threat detection, and encryption, which keep you safe from hackers, phishing scams, malware, and other cyber threats.
How network security keeps your ecommerce safe
1. Firewalls
A firewall is your first defense—blocking suspicious traffic while allowing legitimate customers to browse and make purchases on your platform.
You can configure firewalls to protect areas of your ecommerce platform where customers provide personal information, such as checkout pages, account creation forms, login pages, account management sections, and customer service contact forms.
For example, if someone tries to exploit a vulnerability in your payment system, the firewall can block the attempt, keeping your customers’ credit card details safe. This not only builds customer trust but also ensures that potential shoppers can complete their purchases through a secure and smooth checkout process.
2. Network access control
Network access control (NAC) acts as a gatekeeper for your ecommerce platform, making sure only authorized people can access the critical components of your system. By managing user permissions and access levels, NAC protects not only your platform but also the customer data you use for marketing purposes.
For instance, NAC ensures that only authorized personnel can access the backend of your ecommerce platform, where customers’ personal information and your order history are stored. This keeps your data safe from unauthorized access and ensures that the promotions you send to customers and the offers you receive contain secure and accurate information.
3. Intrusion detection and prevention systems
Intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPSs) work behind your firewall to monitor and analyze incoming traffic for potential threats. They automatically respond to security breaches and are effective at stopping attacks like brute force and distributed denial of service (DDoS).
For example, if a DDoS attack targets your ecommerce platform by flooding it with a massive volume of requests, the IDPS can detect the abnormal traffic patterns and block the attack. This prevents the attack from causing downtime, ensuring your ecommerce platform remains available and your marketing data and customer interactions are protected.
4. Virtual private networks
A virtual private network (VPN) creates a secure, encrypted connection between your device and the internet. When you transmit sensitive data between your ecommerce platform and external connections, such as third-party integrations, cloud services, and public networks, a VPN works to keep that data protected.
While not all network security vendors offer VPN services, integrating a VPN into your overall security strategy can add an additional level of protection to your business operations and marketing efforts.
5. Application security
Protecting the applications and application programming interfaces (APIs) connected to your online store helps keep everything running smoothly and prevents issues that could harm your business. Key application security measures include:
- Application firewalls: They filter out unauthorized traffic, so only legitimate customers can use your platform and your marketing data remains safe.
- Runtime application self-protection: This technology detects and responds to threats in real time. For example, it can stop an attack that tries to alter customer orders or payment details.
- Static testing: It involves checking your application’s code for vulnerabilities before it goes live, helping avoid problems that could impact your platform’s reliability and your marketing efforts.
- Dynamic testing: It includes examining how your applications behave in real time to find and fix vulnerabilities that could lead to data breaches or slow down your website.
6. Email security
With emails being one of the most common targets for cyber attacks, most network security vendors include email security in their solutions. Your email communications are typically protected through:
- Spam and phishing protection: Filters block harmful emails and phishing scams, keeping your customer data safe.
- Email account protection: Authentication methods help secure your email accounts from unauthorized access, making sure that your customers’ data and your interactions with them remain private.
- Sandboxing: This technique isolates suspicious emails in a secure, controlled environment known as a “sandbox.” In this isolated space, potentially harmful content is tested and analyzed without risking the rest of your network. This method prevents harmful content from impacting your system and ensures your business operations remain secure.
Keep your email communications with customers even more secure by using a top-notch marketing automation platform like Klaviyo. Building on the key security features a network security solution provides, Klaviyo helps you manage customer information with care.
By supporting data minimization, Klaviyo allows you to only collect and use customer data that’s directly necessary, which helps meet privacy standards and reduces exposure in case of a security incident. With Klaviyo, you can run personalized marketing campaigns while your customer data stays protected and compliant with global privacy regulations.
Sign up for Klaviyo today to use customer data from over 350 tools and platforms and send emails that will engage your audience and drive growth.