Book Image

Building Online Stores with osCommerce: Professional Edition

By : David Mercer
Book Image

Building Online Stores with osCommerce: Professional Edition

By: David Mercer

Overview of this book

<p>The book can be read from front to back, but each chapter is self contained so the reader can skip chapters to read those that they are interested in. Each chapter will move from basic to advanced where applicable and also relate what the administrator (reader) is doing to how this affects what the client sees on the site.</p> <p>So, for example, the customization chapter will start off with a discussion on the concept of design and how to relate this to your business. Once the reader has a clear idea of what they need to do, we look at some really simple changes such as modifying the site's language, before moving to some advanced modifications which may involve some PHP programming. At the same time the discussion will demonstrate how the changes made affect the site.</p> <p>Throughout the book, much consideration is given to the "right" way to doing things. Readers will have the great advantage that they begin, from the very start, doing things properly. This will save them a lot of time and effort in the years to come as they build on and modify their site. Utilizing best practices and sound methodologies is a great asset for beginners and experienced users alike.</p> <p>At all times, the coverage given in this book pays homage to the fact that, ultimately, the reader has a business goal in mind. To this end, the material never gets bogged down in technical issues or long discourses, but rather focuses on what is practically important for the online business and then moves on. To complement this, there are plenty of suggestions and hints as to how and where to look for further information.</p>
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Building Online Stores with osCommerce: Professional Edition
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
Foreword
Introduction
Index

What's all This Security Business?


Hopefully, you have decided to take the advice given in the previous chapter and not deal with credit card details yourself, leaving them instead for the specialist service providers who must comply with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard. Doing this will not only make your security requirements a lot less stringent, but will also allow you to be more flexible in terms of the way you deal with customers and third parties.

Note

Having said this, we still need to make use of all the basic bits and pieces of software that go into making a secure site, so even if you are storing credit card information on your site, you will still find the information you need in this chapter.

So, where do we begin when we think about how to secure a site? Well, an analysis of all the potential vulnerabilities is a good beginning. You will also find that when it comes to security, it is all but impossible to predict all the security holes at once—don't feel...