The collaboration between Safeshops and Business to You is a good example of how two organisations can strengthen each other and together provide an even more complete service. Speaking is Greet Dekocker, Managing Director at Safeshops.
What is Safeshops?
Safeshops is the Belgian equivalent of Thuiswinkel.org. As an industry organization, the company is committed to the quality and reliability of online stores. The goal is to increase consumer and customer confidence in online shopping and thus to further grow and develop this industry.
Legal trust
Safeshops assesses the quality and reliability of web shops on the basis of scans and screenings, among other things. For example, a legal screening must reveal whether a webshop complies with national e-commerce legislation. For example, the general terms and conditions, the ordering process, the complaints procedure and the privacy procedures are tested. For this Safeshops cooperates with an independent law firm, which in addition to its monitoring task also offers direct legal guidance to webshops. Webshops that meet all legal criteria and are thus found to be in order receive the ‘Verified by SafeShops.be quality label’.
Technical website security
The GDPR legislation stipulates that entrepreneurs in the e-commerce world are legally responsible for the security of their websites. Safeshops aims to make entrepreneurs aware of online technical security risks and provide them with a better understanding of their current security situation.
Freemium scan as first awareness
Awareness is the first step toward improvement, which is why Safeshops offers the “Freemium security check”: a free passive basic scan that provides an overall technical status of website security. The scan provides a score of the existing security level on various components (for example, the validity of the SSL certificate).
Greet Dekocker: “We see this scan as a first step on the ladder of ‘cybersecurity awareness’, but do emphasize that it is not complete if you, as a webshop, really want to work on your security policy. For Safeshops members who want more insight into their security risks, we offer, together with the professionals of Business to You, a more extensive and advanced website security scan.”
Periodic scan with Trust Guard in accordance with professional standards
Trust Guard automatically and periodically scans for tens of thousands of known and unknown security vulnerabilities in accordance with professional standards such as PCI/DSS, ISO27001, OWASP and GDPR. This gives you a good understanding of the vulnerabilities on your site. But that’s not the only thing Trust Guard does. In addition, it also checks the SSL certificate and scans for malware. Security first!
Greet Dekocker continues: “We at Safeshops understand like no other that many security problems arise due to the rapid developments such as of Internet technology, hacker techniques, new versions of web store software. And this also in combination with human error or ignorance. This makes sense: everyone has his or her own expertise and there is no company that can be expert in security, marketing and website development at the same time. So how nice is it when you can scan periodically – quarterly, monthly, weekly or daily – and get ahead of major problems?”
Simple Trust Guard dashboard
Trust Guard’s approachable and understandable reports give every shop the tools to correct errors and address the right parties to do so, such as a hosting party or the website builder.
Greet Dekocker: “Without having to have all the knowledge yourself, you can solve problems before they really go wrong. And if you do that well, you are rewarded: namely with the Trust Guard seal. A hallmark with which a webshop can show its customers that they can store safely and that their data is in good hands. Essential, in these times when the GDPR and thus the proper handling of privacy-sensitive information is more important than ever!”
Collaboration
Dekocker is pleased that Safeshops can offer its members a complete service thanks to its partnership with Business to You. “Trust Guard offers tremendous value in helping customers help build the security policies that are so important to both us and our members.
