Security is a big deal online. Every day we hear about hackers stealing data and personal identities.

The level of security you need depends on what you do and what kind of data you are going to store. Are you going to store credit card numbers? Then you need the highest security to protect your honeypot from hackers. (And if possible, do not store credit card numbers at all: have them processed for you by payment processors directly.)

Some security questions you’ll want to investigate:

Are there individual passwords for each user (administrator and member)?

Are the passwords stored in the database encrypted?

Is there encryption (aka https/SSL) in place for online payment transactions – and, ideally, for other data entry and management functions, such as membership applications and overall administration functions?