In today’s rapidly evolving digital economy, secure checkout in online shopping experiences has become a top priority for businesses and customers. Securing online transactions is essential not only to protect sensitive customer data, but also to maintain trust and protect businesses from the ever-increasing risk of cyber threats.
As online shopping continues to grow, so does the potential for cyber-attacks. Security breaches can have far-reaching consequences, from financial loss and reputational damage to reduced consumer confidence. To mitigate these risks, organizations must prioritize secure checkouts and overall point-of-sale security measures.
This article explores the fundamentals of online checkout security, the challenges businesses face in protecting their online transactions, and how 2Checkout (now Verifone) addresses these issues. By leveraging advanced tools and practices, 2Checkout ensures that merchants and their customers benefit from a seamless and secure shopping experience.
Understanding Checkout Security
What is checkout security?
Checkout security refers to the measures and protocols that safeguard sensitive information during online transactions. It includes protecting credit card details, personal data, and other transaction-related information from malicious actors. This is done by encrypting payment details, safeguarding customer information, and ensuring transactions are processed in a secure environment.
Common threats to checkout security:
Let’s review what kind of threats we’re talking about when it comes to online checkout security. Here are the most common ones:
- Phishing attacks remain a significant threat in online transactions. Fraudsters use deceptive emails, text messages, or fraudulent websites to trick customers into revealing sensitive information like credit card numbers or login credentials. For businesses, such attacks can erode trust and lead to financial losses.
- Malware infections can infiltrate systems through seemingly harmless downloads, email attachments, or compromised websites. Once inside, malware can steal payment data, disrupt operations, or even grant unauthorized access to backend systems. For eCommerce platforms, these infections can lead to downtime, loss of customer trust, and hefty remediation costs.
- Data breaches occur when hackers gain unauthorized access to sensitive data stored by businesses. Insecure storage practices or outdated systems are common culprits. Breaches not only expose customers’ payment information but also put businesses at risk of legal liabilities, regulatory fines, and reputational damage.
- Card fraud is one of the most direct threats to checkout security. Fraudsters often use stolen card details for unauthorized purchases. Frequently, these details are tested with small transactions to verify validity before making larger fraudulent purchases, impacting merchants through disputes and chargeback costs. A secure checkout is the first line of defense against this type of fraud.
- Chargebacks occur when customers dispute a transaction with their bank, leading to reversed payments. While intended to protect consumers, excessive chargebacks can result in penalties for merchants or even loss of the ability to accept certain payment methods. Complicating matters further, chargeback fraud—where customers falsely dispute legitimate purchases—can exploit this system.
- DDOs Attacks are cyberattacks that flood your website or servers with overwhelming traffic from multiple sources, making it impossible for legitimate customers to access your site. This can severely disrupt your business operations and damage your reputation.
These challenges underscore the need for robust, secure payment processing solutions in combination with fraud prevention and mitigation to reduce risk and maintain customer confidence.
At the same time, as a merchant, you play a key role in mitigating security threats. One effective strategy is to set clear expectations for customer communication. Let your customers know how and when you contact them and be clear about the types of requests you will (never) make. This approach is especially important for subscription-based businesses, where regular communication about transactions is essential. By providing transparency, you can help customers recognize legitimate interactions and avoid falling victim to scams.
How 2Checkout (now Verifone) Handles Cart Security
2Checkout combines cutting-edge technologies, rigorous compliance standards, and a proactive approach to safeguard every transaction. Here’s how:
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PCI DSS Compliance
As a Level 1 Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) certified provider, 2Checkout adheres to the highest standards of payment security. The certification ensures the highest level of data protection and covers rigorous measures such as encryption, regular security assessments, and robust access controls for digital credit card payments.
While partnering with a third-party payment processor can greatly reduce the scope and complexity of PCI DSS compliance for merchants, it doesn’t entirely eliminate their responsibilities. Providers like 2Checkout, which adhere to stringent global security standards, play a key role in simplifying compliance efforts, offering merchants greater peace of mind and confidence in safeguarding their stakeholders.
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Secure payment gateway
Payment gateways transmit transaction information to acquiring banks and responses from issuing banks (such as whether a transaction is approved or declined). Since payment gateways process sensitive information like credit card numbers, expiration dates, and card verification value (CVV) codes, it is important that payment gateways employ advanced encryption protocols to safeguard such transaction data.
As a PCI DSS-compliant gateway, 2Checkout employs measures like tokenization, encryption, and secure authentication to minimize the risk of fraud and data breaches, aligning directly with PCI DSS requirements.
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Secure hashing algorithm
2Checkout uses best in class hashing security algorithms – SHA2/SHA3. These cryptographic functions create unique and irreversible “fingerprints” of sensitive data, such as transaction details and customer information. This ensures data integrity, as any unauthorized modification to the data will result in a completely different hash value.
Additionally, SHA2/SHA3 significantly enhance data confidentiality by making it extremely difficult to recover the original data from the generated hash, even with advanced computational power.
This robust security framework contributes to 2Checkout’s reputation as a reliable and secure payment gateway for businesses of all sizes.
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Safeguarded checkout links
2Checkout employs robust security measures to safeguard its checkout links from DDoS attacks, including those leveraging custom domains. These measures typically involve a multi-layered approach, encompassing DDoS mitigation services, advanced threat intelligence, and continuous monitoring.
This comprehensive security framework aims to ensure the uninterrupted availability of checkout links, even under heavy attack, thereby protecting both businesses and their customers from disruptions in the payment process.
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Advanced fraud prevention tools
Proactive fraud prevention is at the heart of 2Checkout’s operations. Using advanced tools and analytics, the platform monitors transaction patterns, flags suspicious activity, and blocks fraudulent transactions in real-time.
What sets 2Checkout apart is its dedicated fraud team. This team reviews flagged orders, provides client support for suspected fraud inquiries, and helps merchants resolve issues quickly. Importantly, this service is included in all packages at no extra cost.
At the same time, 2Checkout also performs regular security reviews and audits that ensure continuous improvement and adaptation to emerging threats.
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Strong Customer Authentication (SCA)
To comply with global regulations and enhance transaction security, 2Checkout uses 3D Secure 2.0 authentication in certain regions where it is required, ensuring that merchants remain compliant while reducing the risk of fraud and chargebacks.
This method requires customers to verify their identity with their bank at checkout, adding an extra layer of protection against fraud. The latest version of 3D Secure (3DS2) allows card issuers – banks – to use a variety of data points from the transaction to perform a risk-based analysis. It provides a real-time, secure and more accurate way to authenticate customers without requiring a static password or slowing down commerce.
Strong customer authentication is part of PSD2 in Europe and similar regulations in the UK and some APAC countries – Australia, India and Japan.
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Allowed domains for post-checkout redirects
To prevent post-checkout redirection hijacking, 2Checkout enables merchants to set allowed domains for post-checkout redirects. This ensures customers are sent only to trusted pages, safeguarding them from phishing and hijacking attempts.
If the URLs’ domain/subdomain is not whitelisted, the shopper will be redirected to your default Thank you page.
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Focus on platform performance and security
Beyond transactional security, 2Checkout prioritizes platform reliability. With a guaranteed uptime of 99.98%, supported by failover processes and global monitoring, merchants can count on uninterrupted service, while maintaining robust security standards, even during peak traffic.
Conclusion
As online shopping continues to grow, ensuring secure checkout processes has never been more important. With robust foundations like PCI DSS compliance, advanced fraud prevention, and secure payment gateways, 2Checkout stands out as a trusted partner for merchants looking to protect their businesses and customers. By proactively addressing threats and maintaining high performance, 2Checkout empowers merchants to focus on growth while delivering peace of mind to their customers.
Ready to elevate your cart security? Partner with 2Checkout today to safeguard your transactions and build a secure future for your business.
