Security concerns for business website designers

With GDPR looming ever larger on the horizon, businesses must take looking after their data seriously, and that includes securing information on websites. Personal data is increasingly submitted via the internet, and it’s vital to keep it safe.

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Dangerous world

With new and improved malware strains and the risk of targeted attacks along with large-scale, high-profile malware like WannaCry, the internet poses more threats than ever. For web designers, this means thinking about security and designing it in from the outset.

One of the effects of GDPR is that privacy will need to be built into the design framework of sites that serve customers in the EU. Privacy by Design (PbD) offers a best practice solution for designers to address privacy issues before they begin coding a site.

The personal touch

There is an increasing demand for personalisation for web users. Whether it’s via the site experience or in marketing emails, people expect companies to be responsive to their interests. This means online stores must leverage buying history to make appropriate recommendations, but this needs to be balanced against a desire for privacy. The focus on personalisation should never be allowed to override the sanctity of the individual’s data.

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A professional web development company in London such as https://www.redsnapper.net will be able to help you balance the need for personalised content with the demands of website security and privacy. In the era of Big Data, the more detail the company collects on a customer, the greater the need to keep it safe.

The key here is to incorporate security at the design stage. Developers need to ensure that if personal data is needed for a site to work effectively, it must be collected in an appropriate way and stored securely. If design and development teams are separate, they need to work closely together to ensure that these demands are met.

If using a proprietary content management system to provide the front end, it’s crucial that measures are put in place to keep it up-to-date. It’s all too easy for a site to fall victim to an unpatched vulnerability. The same applies to HTML5 and to APIs if they are in use. Web designers need to be alert to the security considerations of any third-party software and links that they are using.