BleepingComputer.com: Online Store

Hi,

I'm looking to start an online store. I have been doing a lot of research and it seems there are so many different options! I am unsure whether to host it myself (either CMS or write it myself) and then intergrate with a payment gateway/frieght companys to calculate shipping costs or there are heaps of sites where you can host through them and use what seems to be their own CMS.

Anyone have any experience with this/any idea of where to start? At the moment i am leaning more towards hosting it myself as then i will have full control over the code (can tweak as much as i want).

I have been playing around with a lot of the e-store plugins avaliable for wordpress but don't really like any of them.

Host it somewhere else. In the instance that there is a data breach, you are not liable. Unless you happen to have a solid background in secure design, are familiar with the various vulnerabilities related to your operating system, and are prepared to document all of the measures you have taken to prove in court of law that you have taken due diligence in protecting your customers and their data. Failing that, you would be financially liable for any damages or losses due to failure to adequately prepare.

There is a reason that online companies employ legal teams, and failing that, they do everything possible to limit their liability.

Didn't even think of that! So if i'm hosting it elsewhere, any recommendations of what to use (CMS?)/where to host?

You will definitely want to host it somewhere else, what happens when your power goes out? Cable internet goes out? Oops, website no longer online

I've spent thousands and thousands of dollars on hardware to protect all my customers including firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, etc etc.

There is a lot that goes into hosting a website that most people do not understand, and that's why you need to find a managed host. They will provide you support whenever you have problems, and will handle making sure you website is online 99-100% of the time, even protecting your site from malicious users who could try and hack into it and obtain all your customer information. There's a lot that goes into security and you will just need to ask yourself whether or not it's worth the $5 a month to let someone else handle it...that's how much you probably waste in one day at McDonalds.

What kind of store are you trying to start? There's a lot of scripts that can do this but you probably need to make sure there isn't something already out there specifically for what you're trying to do.

I ended up going with a Volusion Online Store as it suited all of my needs.

you should host it yourself as it is much more convenient. Try Zen Cart if you are interested in an open source shopping cart. It is a great php base cms.

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Ok, then based on all of your experience, please explain the requirements for creating an adequate security and risk analysis plan, as well as going about creating a liability firewall so that in the instance of a data breach, KamakaZ does not lose everything?