Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I was approached by the company HackerSafe and need some feedback from anyone who is familiar with the service.  They guarantee increased sales, because shoppers feel safer when they see the Hacker Safe logo, and increased Google rank by having your company name listed (in three places) in their Merchant Directory.  The annual fee is steep but seems like a small price to pay for customers security.  Looking forward to any comments you have.

http://www.scanalert.com/

Thanks,

Vicki

Vicki,

I would be curious to hear if you find any answers.  I posted a similar question a while back and didn`t really get much.  I would be interested to see A/B testing on ScanAlert vs just any old image that says something like HackProof (TM) with a button that looks official.  Not to say that I`d dupe customers but it seems that people respond to the logo and not necessarily the company/technology.  The rep I spoke with quoted $180/m which to me sounds high but might pay for itself in increased sales.  Who knows...  either way best of luck!

For myself, I decided not to do it. There is no proof of increase sells for this Logo. If that were the case I have a logo for sale, "Unhackable Site". They do provide a back link but, that is an expensive back link. Consumers are not shopping Hacker Safe sites in particular, they are just shopping, So if you invest in a good site design that will keep them looking and buying that will go alot further. Customers are secured by SSL certificates not a Hacker Safe Logo. Honestly, how many times have you Not bought something because the site lacked a particular Logo. SSl security, a Good Site design and SEO are better investments.

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A goal without a plan is just a wish.

IMO the price you pay for it is not worth any returns you might get.

You can get the same kinds of gains for less.

Thanks Nikole, your opinion is valuable to me.  

V. 

onethebeach. My business is information security. It is what I have done for the last 12 years of my life.

Websites, just like any technology can never be 100% secure. Automated testing does raise the bar, but only if it is done right. If they only test for a few vulnerabilities then it really doesn`t do anything for you. I have yet to find in all my years a automated scanner that can detect ALL vulnerabilities with no false positives.

Hacker safe works when it does because it provides an avenue to instill online buying confidence to your customers. This is really a false sense of security that is presented to your customers. Your customers think your site is hacker safe because your website is safe, but it doesn`t say anything about how you protected their records in your database.

Before I go any further I will say there is absolutely no substitute to having a good security policy and actually having your website tested. My reasoning is if your business relies on technology and that technology fails you (misused, unavailable or inefficient) that could hurt your business. (from what it looks like your website is a very important resource.) By being diligent in the security of your website you are ultimately protecting your business. You just have to justify the amount you put in and like nhgnikole said make sure that it doesn`t cost more than the return you will get.

Now on to the last part. Putting together a privacy policy / security statement that describes the diligence that you actually do to protect their information can replace the logo that they would display on your website. Writing the policy is a lot cheaper than paying a monthly fee, the caveat is that you must be doing what you say in the policy (ethically anyways).

Please contact me if you want if you have further questions. There is a lot more that I could have explained, but was probably outside the scope of your question.

I just saw this article and thought it might be beneficial to your decision.

http://pressesc.com/01181159576_price_of_privacy

Hacker Safe will save you money if you are an inexperienced marketer. But the reason hacker safe saves businesses money is not because of a superb impression of site security. It is because they present their logo at the most relevant time - during the checkout.

Thus, hacker safe is an easy boost too poor websites. But really, you can accomplish as much with a SSL certificate, if you place it correctly.


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Best Regards,

Victor Wise

Thanks for the responses.  My main concern was not to save money or boost sales with Hacker Safe.  I have been the vicitm of credit card fraud twice in the last 8 months.  My business credit card number, that I use only to purchase merchandise from wholesalers has been stolen - twice.  The thiefs didn`t have the three digit code on the back of the card either time and the purchases were for large sums of money, so my cc company called me right away.  Then they had to cancel the card, and I had to notify everyone I do business with that the card was cancelled - twice.   I`d like to do everything I can to make sure my customers information is safe from hackers, if that`s even possible.

V.

V.

Just make sure you have an SSL certificate installed. Personally, I use COMODO; and for free they conduct daily security scans of your site. They also let you show their hacker guardian seal for a small fee - though, from what I understand, its still the same security scans. Just more frequent.

You know; while I`m not a hacker either, I think its something of  a misnomer thinking that hackers are responsible for the majority of credit card fraud. I would think that the `hacked credit cards online` are more of an issue between collusion of the business owner or an issue of not having an SSL certificate at all.

Hacking is hard - so I hear. Think of all the alternate ways there are to get a credit card number. Easier ways.

Do you ever use your credit cards to pay for dining? Do you follow the waiter into the kitchen to swipe it? Do you shred all your documents?  Do you break eye contact with your card when paying for an oil change from Pep Boys (they`ll rip you off in other ways too)?

Well, I trust my point has been made. I would advise you to look at hacker safe as nothing more than a brilliant marketing ploy - which is what it is (unless you run a political site).

-V


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Best Regards,

Victor Wise