How Do I Protect my Customers?

[Milkman1265]

Ok so i intend to use my website for a lead gen tool where i will also use it in my work flow efforts. I will have private areas where i will link or have customer use to submit information to me for quoting and other details.

It will be some personal info and info i dont want to lose to hackers or prying eyes.

Now how do i go about securing my website?

I am using wordpress, but i what would i need to do to have a form asking for social security numbers?

I heard of SSL, but what is the basic and what should i do?

 

[WebEminence]

Important question.

You're right about SSL. It secures the information sent through your website and it's what e-commerce websites use to secure credit card details. When you're on a website secured by SSL, the address bar will show https instead of http and you'll usually see some kind of lock icon in your browser.

SSL costs about $100 a year to apply to your domain. They are purchased from your website host or your domain registrar.

Another option that I have used to secure forms is Jotform.com. Their free account allows you to accept 10 secure form submissions a month. They have paid plans also that allow higher number of submission, but if that's the case, you're probably better off buying an SSL certificate for your domain.

 

[Jarustech]

Milkman1265 - not to throw out a shameless plug but this is in the scope of what my company does as an IT firm specializing in the insurance industry. I'm not as well versed in the security aspects as is the rest of our team here but if you are looking for help then please let me know and if anything then at least we can provide you with some information / educate you on the options for securing your website. Never hurts to have a conversation and possibly learn something in the process.

Again I apologize for the plug but had to mention it since we're developing some of these systems / sites currently.