As we’ve seen, the financial services industry is under constant attack from criminals and fraudsters. This means that your payment system needs to be secure and needs to provide a safe environment for your parents and students. If you already have a payment module solution in place in your school system, it’s not too late to add some security features to it. You want to ensure that the payments that parents make are secure from cybersecurity attacks at all times.

How To Determine The Security of Your Payment Software

There are many ways to determine the security of your online payment software. Here are three effective ways to check it:

#1: Look Out For Firewalls

A firewall is an essential part of any secure network. It’s what prevents external people from getting into your system and what also restricts internal users to access specific parts of the system. Hackers understand that payment systems are critical targets for data theft, so they always try to find ways around firewalls.

#2: Look Out For The Pattern Of Attacks

One way to determine the strength of a secure payment software is by looking at the pattern of attacks made on it. It’s important that you have a system in place so that you can track and identify these patterns. They are usually very easy to identify because the nature of cyber-attacks is to find a way into the system.

#3: Check For The Source Of Attacks

Whenever you’re attacked from a particular IP address, always consider blocking that IP from the server. Try to find out where the IP originated from and how it got into your system. If you can’t trace its location, just block it for good.

It’s worth the time and effort to add security measures to your online payment module solution because they will provide a safe environment for parents and students alike.

Steps To Ensure Security Before Implementing Online Payments

There are many steps that help to ensure a secure payment protocol. These are the five most important steps for schools to take to check their security before implementing their online payment system:

#1: Get Rid Of Unnecessary Software

You want to make sure that your system is as secure as possible. That means removing any unnecessary software and changing settings to prevent others from accessing personal data stored on the server.

#2: Create A Password Policy

It’s not enough anymore that you simply require parents to create a username and password when they sign up for online payments. You need to make sure they create a secure password and that they use different passwords for different accounts. This means creating rules and guidelines on how people should create safe passwords and enforcing the use of them at all times.

#3: Have A Phone Verification System In Place

When it comes to enrolling students for online payments, you need to have a phone verification system in place. In this way, parents won’t be able to log in as someone else if they happen to have that person’s password.

#4: Track Accessing Activity

You want to make sure that whenever a parent logs on using their username and password, the IP address is the same. If it’s not, then you know that somebody else has attempted to access their account and that they should change their password as soon as possible.

#5: Don’t Use Public Wi-Fi Network

If you must use public Wi-Fi for online payments, always look out for fake access points and other things that may intercept traffic. It’s a good practice not to use public Wi-Fi networks at all.

The success of online payment modules for schools depends on how secure they are from cybersecurity attacks at all times. You have to do the research and implement the technologies needed so that you don’t become a victim as well. Using these five steps will help to ensure good security before you launch an online payment portal.

Everyday Measures To Prevent Cybersecurity Attacks

Here are three everyday measures your school can take to prevent cybersecurity attacks:

#1: Find Out Who Is Doing What

You want to make sure that you’ve put a system in place where parents and students can only access data that they’re allowed to see. This means making sure you know who is doing what on your online payment module at all times.

#2: Keep Servers Well-Maintained

It’s always a good idea to keep servers well-maintained, especially if you’re using open-source software. By keeping the software updated, you’ll be able to make sure that any patches are applied.

#3: Make Sure Antivirus Software Is Installed And Updated

It’s not enough anymore that you simply install antivirus software. You need to make sure that it’s working and that you’ve updated the software. If you don’t, hackers will be able to get in and wreak havoc on your system.

These are just a few of the measures you can do every day to ensure your payment module is secure. This is important to implement every day in order to prevent any attacks.

List of Helpful Security Software

Finally, here is a list of helpful security software for schools to use to make sure they have secure payment software:

#1: Apache

Apache is a web server that allows you to create secure web pages and servers. It’s one of the best servers around and used by many organizations all over the world.

#2: Linux

Linux is an open-source server that has been modified for security purposes. It comes with a host of other features as well and can be customized to suit your needs.

#3: OpenSSL

This is an open-source software library that has enough tools to make any security expert happy. It’s used by some of the biggest companies in the world and is considered one of the best around for security purposes.

 

A secure online payment module is one of the most important things you can have if you’re looking to ensure that you’re protected against cyber security threats. Using these security measures will help lower the risk of having your school’s data hacked and used for purposes it wasn’t intended for. This is important because all schools’ data contain sensitive information about students, parents, teachers, and staff, so keeping it secured is of utmost importance.

By following these tips, you’ll be able to secure your school’s online payment portal to prevent any future cybersecurity attacks that might cause you or your students harm. These are just a few of the things that need to be done in order for you to create a secure online payment portal.

SchoolCues is an all-in-one school management system for small schools with limited budgets and resources. Our solutions include admissions and enrollment, online payments, student information system, gradebook, communications, parent engagement, donations and fundraising, alumni management and more. Schedule a demo with us today.