12 risks of Xmas | no. 4

On the 4th day of Christmas... your website made no sales

The Christmas period is considered to be the busiest for the e-commerce industry, as well as many others. And though sales might be skyrocketing during the Christmas gifting season, you don’t want a small overlook to cause a drop. All it takes is a rogue 404 page to start losing profits at a breakneck pace.

What's at risk?

With a growing number of transactions going through your site daily, it might get harder and harder to keep your IT on top of every feature and its security. Every minute a page on your site remains down, you lose your customers to your competitors one by one. With that you might encounter a significant loss of income, resulting in - brace yourself - a possibility of no Christmas bonus at all.

How to avoid it?

With attackers lurking on a quest for a weak link, it is now more important than ever to double up on the server security. Installing decent security software and configuring the firewall in a fitting way is the first step, along with keeping all external software and services up-to-date. But before all that, investing in a comprehensive cyber cover is vital to support and protect your business. During the busy trading periods, it is better (and safer) to put off the new features and developments. Instead, you are better off keeping an eye on the existing products and server security. Some teams might have limited resources, too, so those who hold the fort must stay extra vigilant.

Read about the 5th risk of Christmas.