Making your website secure with an SSL Certificate
Many in the logistics world are struggling to keep up with technology and with the ever-changing world of technology, it’s hard to know what you should be doing to digitalise your supply chain. Having worked for 13 years for Kuehne + Nagel in the Marketing and Customer Solutions teams, I understand how fast things change.
A website is a key tool for a logistics company and now more than ever you need to make sure that your website is meeting your clients demands.
With GDPR coming in and some major changes which Google is bringing in, the most important thing to do is to make sure if you do own a website that you have the right security in place.
Personal data is going to be a big thing from May 2018 and you need to make sure your website is secure. Gone are the days of getting a cheap website up and running and you can leave it. Everyone now uses Googles for services and products and with over 58% of users in the past year using Google Chrome which is set to increase currently the South America 74% of all users, use Chrome. For your website you need to start thinking about 2 big changes both will have a massive effect to the way you manage your website or have your website built.
Forcing the SSL requirement
1) The latest update for Google Chrome requires you to have an SSL (secure socket layer) certificate. If you don’t, the user will get a red screen stating that the website is possibly not secure and to proceed at your own risk. An SSL Certificate also gives a trust signal to Google for SEO purposes.
You really don’t want your users to be hit with a red screen saying your website is unsafe as simply this will cause clients to stop using your website which could lose you revenue. It can also harm your ranking on Google. This new update will happen some point in in July 2018. Knowing Google it may take a little longer than this.
We have noticed an a massive increase of return and new visitors to our own website by installing an SSL certificate onto our website and it has made it easier for pages to have high positions on Google.
2) GDPR will require your website to have various privacy statements and terms and conditions on your website, but also you will need to make sure its 100% secure and that it’s up to date security wise.
Around security there is not excuses now for weak passwords or not to keep your website up to date. If your website is an e-commerce website and you store any kind of personal data you will need to not only be PCI compliant (Payment Card Industry Security Standard) which requires a SSL certificate.
Your website will need regular updates including the possibility of penetration testing which is a way to test the security of your website. If you don’t document these and you do have a serious breach you could get in trouble not only with your clients but also with the Information Commissioners Office which could fine you 4% of turnover. Please consult the Information Commissioners Office on advise on website security to get an accurate answer.
Don’t panic, SSL Certificates are small data files that digitally bind a cryptographic key to an organization's details. When installed on a web server, it activates the padlock and the https protocol and allows secure connections from a web server to a browser. This protects the user a little bit more and there are different levels of SSL certificates.
Enough of the technical talk, basically an SSL certificate hides your data by jumbling up the data to make it really hard to get hacked. E-commerce systems and Banks use SSL certificates to encrypt your personal details and card details between your computer, there web site server and the banks server.
They don’t cost the earth and you can expect prices to start from 0 to £200+ depending of the level of transactions and the amount of traffic (visitors) you expect the site to have. The certificate is installed onto the web hosting environment where your website is sitting. A small piece of code is then added to the site. It takes a few hours to get the site safe.
The reason why Google is forcing this as it just makes a lot of sense to protect your clients and users of your website. It gives a lot better user experience and it shows to your clients that your caring about their data. From a GDPR point of view as you own the website it’s your responsibility to make sure the when users visit your system that its secure, safe and regularly updated. The SSL does this, Google loves them too so for a very small amount of money a year you can be assured your website has an extra layer of security.
Not just an SSL
Just one big caveat no website is 100% secure even with an SSL you can get hacked so you do need to make sure that your website is always up to date, the passwords are changed regularly and that your web hosting has anti-virus and security as part of the service. Any data breach unfortunately will stop at your door. Its 100% your responsibility.
However, Award winning Digital Marketing agency Cocoonfxmedia Ltd can help you getting your website setup with an SSL certificate. Their 100% Green super-fast web hosting service will provide a free SSL certificate which is suitable for e-commerce websites as standard with any of their website hosting packages. They can also provide advice on digital marketing particularly for the logistics industry.
Its fiercely competitive out there but don’t let your business suffer by not having a secure and safe website.