10 Key Approaches to Secure Your Brand, Customer Base, and Reputation

Published on 17 Sept 2024

In the digital age, trust is the cornerstone of any successful business. As encryption serves as the backbone of security, identity verification becomes the heart, ensuring the human value behind your organisation’s digital presence. Since the advent of eCommerce in the 1990s, trust and verified identities have facilitated honest business transactions. However, with the rise of malicious websites hiding behind encryption, the landscape has changed. The widespread anonymity of the internet now jeopardises business identities, leaving customers vulnerable to scams.

A lack of identity verification for users, applications, and devices on your network can provide easy access for hackers, potentially damaging your organisation’s reputation. This E-Book outlines 10 critical steps your organisation can take to protect your brand, customers, and reputation. By following these guidelines, you can validate your business identity, secure network access, and build customer trust.

Implement TLS/SSL Certificates to Verify Your Identity

DV vs. OV vs. EV Certificates

Domain Validation (DV) certificates provide basic encryption but do not validate the identity of the organisation, making them vulnerable to misuse by cyber criminals. Organisation Validation (OV) and Extended Validation (EV) TLS certificates offer higher levels of assurance by requiring stringent checks before issuance. These high-assurance certificates list your organisation’s name and location, assuring consumers that your website is authentic.

EV certificates offer the strongest identity assurance, protecting both your brand and users by utilising highly trusted authentication methods. They are particularly recommended for industries such as finance and eCommerce, where security is paramount.

Enhanced Identity Security and Trust Measures for the Financial Industry

In the European Union, the eIDAS regulation standardises and secures the online financial market through Qualified Web Authentication Certificates (QWAC) and Qualified eSeal Certificates (QsealC). QWACs provide rigorous identity validation, including face-to-face verification, ensuring that your website is legitimate and secure. QsealC ensures that your applications and documents are tamper-proof and originate from a trustworthy source.

Signed HTTP Exchange (SXG) Certificates

For businesses relying on high volumes of web content, especially on mobile devices, Signed HTTP Exchange (SXG) certificates offer a solution to the branding confusion caused by Google AMP. SXG certificates ensure that your company name appears correctly in the URL, maintaining brand integrity while improving load times and security.

Demonstrate Identity Everywhere: Sign Your Code, Documents, and Emails

Your organisation’s identity is represented by the emails, documents, and applications you send. Cybercriminals often intercept these assets, embedding malware and spreading it under your company’s name. By implementing digital certificates for code signing, document signing, and secured emails, you can assure recipients of the integrity of the assets they receive. In case of compromise, the certificates will alert recipients, halting the spread of malware and protecting your reputation.

Establish Identity for All Your IoT Devices

With the number of connected IoT devices expected to reach 75.44 billion by 2025, security is a major concern. By deploying Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and digital certificates, manufacturers can establish identity for IoT devices, enabling device-to-device interactions and preventing unauthorised access. This additional layer of security reduces the risk for end-users and helps maintain the integrity of your IoT ecosystem.

Display a Trust Seal on Your Website

Concerns about payment security are a major factor in shopping cart abandonment, with almost 20% of customers citing it as a reason in 2017. Trust seals are one of the top drivers of online trust, significantly reducing bounce rates and increasing conversion. By displaying a DigiCert SecuredTM seal or the Norton Powered by DigiCert seal, you provide customers with familiar, instant assurance at the critical moment of sale.

Guard Against Unintended Certificate Issuance

To protect your organisation from malicious actors obtaining certificates fraudulently, it’s crucial to maintain control over your Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) listing. CAA records serve as a trusted whitelist for Certificate Authorities (CAs), allowing only approved entities to issue certificates for your domain. By carefully managing your CAA record, you can prevent attackers from using mis issued certificates to compromise your identity.

Create a Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) Listing

A CAA listing allows domain owners to specify which CAs are authorized to issue certificates for their domain. By restricting this list to CAs with strict authentication standards, you can protect your organisation from the issuance of rogue certificates, which could otherwise be used to facilitate cyberattacks.

Monitor Certificate Transparency (CT) Logs

Certificate Transparency (CT) logs provide a curated list of issued certificates, enabling businesses to quickly identify fraudulent or mistakenly issued certificates. By monitoring CT logs, you can detect unauthorized certificates and take corrective action before any damage occurs.

Check for Blacklisting

To further safeguard your organisation’s digital presence, regularly check for blacklisting of your certificates. Blacklisting can occur when certificates are associated with malicious activities, and being proactive in monitoring this can help you maintain your reputation and avoid interruptions to your online services.

Verify User and Device Identity

Phishing remains a prevalent threat, with 78% of cyber espionage incidents in 2019 involving phishing. To combat this, implement robust identity verification measures for users and devices accessing your network. This step is crucial in preventing unauthorized access and ensuring that only legitimate users and devices can interact with your systems.

Discover and Automate

Simplifying digital certificate management is essential for enterprise IT. Implement tools that allow you to discover, automate, and manage your certificates efficiently. Automation reduces the risk of human error, ensures timely renewals, and helps maintain compliance with security policies.

Simplify Digital Certificate Administration for Enterprise IT

For large organisations, managing digital certificates can be a complex task. By simplifying the administration process, you can reduce the burden on your IT team and ensure that certificates are properly managed across your entire organisation. This includes integrating security with DevOps and business communications to create a seamless workflow.

Integrate Security with DevOps and Business Communications Seamlessly

The integration of security with DevOps practices and business communications is crucial for maintaining a robust security posture. By ensuring that security is built into every stage of development and communication, you can protect your organisation from threats and maintain customer trust.

Secure Your Business Today! Download our comprehensive E-Book and learn how to protect your brand, customers, and reputation from cyber threats. Get the expert insights you need—download now!