Advice on Securing Web Sites (SSL??)

[UIAUK]

Hi there

I have some free webspace (200mb) from my Broadband Provider (F2S), and currently have a test website on there.

If i wish to include a Shopping Cart - will i have to secure the site (to get the pad lock thingy)?

How do i go abouts doing that then?

So am i right in assuming i CANT install cubecart or oscommerce etc without securing my site first?

Cheers folks

[DuaneJackson]

Yes, you'd need an SSL certifificate if you plan to take payments directly on your site (as opposed to redirecting to paypal/worldpay).

It'd need to be installed by whoever manages the server - I doubt your ISP will do this with free space.

You can install shopping carts without this, but again, you will need some assistance from the server administrator (and perhaps access to a database) - again something I suspect your ISP wont be forthcoming with on free space.

[pdecaux]

First of all, the shopping cart can be a separate system from the payment side of things. You can easily host the shop using your unsecured web space, but you must (technically, should) provide a secure payments service.

If you are hosting with a free service, I assume that costs are a big issue. I don't think it would be worth your while financially to accept payments directly on your site. You would be better off using one of the many Internet Merchant Service providors, even PayPal whilst you start out.

PayPal is suitable for transaction volumes of up to £20K/year but after that it gets very expensive. Now that customers do not have to be members to pay via PayPal, I think it is a more acceptable solution to online payments. However, it does have its detractors and can suggest that the website is less professional. It depends on your market.

[GNU]

If you cant get an ssl certificate, the kind of hosting you would need is cheap enough anyway, maybe £5 p/m.

Personally I would not use / have confidence in a site where my details (address etc) were not protected by ssl, even if the payments were made off site.

[robknight]

I use www.flump.net (http://www.flump.net) to host my eccomerce sites. The kind of package you need is their 'silver' package, which is £5 per month. They will setup and install an SSL (security) certificate for £100.

[nsdesign]

We do SSL Certs on any of our host packages at just £45pa - so even together with the host costs.... the price can be very affordable, and certainly worth a move from free isp space if you're planning on trading online professionally.