Amy Pigott If you’ve got an online business to your name, the world is your oyster! Really – it’s easier than ever to reach a potential customer, and to convert them into loyal clients of your product or service.
You just need internet access, which is easy to get from home, meaning you can run a fully functioning company out of your living room, bedroom, or even on the toilet! But does that mean your business is risk free? Absolutely not. Here’s what to be careful about when you’re operating online.
What Data You’re Handling
Under GDPR rules, you should only take the required data and only hold it for as long as you need to. In most cases, this is until the day a customer asks to delete their account, or when they specifically email you asking you to send them a copy of their data and then delete it on your side. Comply with these requests as much as possible – you could be liable for a huge fine otherwise.
Where You Leave Footprints
It’s not your carbon footprint you need to worry about! Everyone has a digital footprint as well. As an online business, you should really know where you’ve left yours. Indeed, hackers can use this data to get into your accounts, disrupt orders, send phishing emails, and generally cause havoc for your company.
A forgotten login here, an app that’s downloading a bit too much data there – it could all be dangerous in the end. Delete the account if you’re no longer using it and find out how to stop tracking on iphone to close your circle and make your online presence a lot safer.
The Cost of Maintaining a Website
A website can be easy to build but hard to maintain in the long run. If you have no technical experience, for example, it’s going to be very difficult to keep it updated and troubleshoot when things go wrong!
This cost can also grow exponentially. Maintaining a website might require the site being taken offline for hours at a time, which can then lose you a lot of money. If this keeps happening, that loss is only going to get bigger and bigger.
Clicking a Bad Link
A bad link is a dangerous thing. If you open up an email, even from someone you know, and click a link contained within it, you could have accidentally downloaded malware to your computer. If you run a network, it could even get into the servers.
Similarly, some websites may be infected, and visiting them could cause the virus to replicate onto your own PC. Thankfully you can download a browser extension to let you know when a site is behaving suspiciously, but without a proper antivirus detector and remover in the way, your online business is at risk 24/7!
If you run an online business, don’t let yourself get too comfortable. Risks can be everywhere and you need to be vigilant to protect your company.
