What Are The Security Risks Of Online Merchant Accounts? Online security has advanced a great deal in the past ten years or so. Online merchant solutions have taken the best advantage of this advancement in technology by allowing many online businesses to take advantage of the convenience of accepting payments online and delivering goods to their customers without actually meeting them. However, as with every positive point to any development there are a few negatives as well. Though merchant transactions on the internet has improved to prevent online theft, popularly referred to as ‘cyber theft’, there are ‘gurus’ in the field of software development who would rather lend their expertise and knowledge to hacking or breaking into online businesses and online payment processors to steal and plunder. Many online merchant establishments have experienced their digital products, such as PDF files, music, video and what not being downloaded by cyber criminals who have somehow managed to circumnavigate their secure payment gateways, thus causing a loss to the online merchant establishment. Many online payment processors have also experienced theft by people breaking into their client’s accounts and transferring cash online. Online credit card fraud is also nothing new to online merchant transactions. The answer to preventing online merchant fraud is to use a reliable service that has proven their expertise in the field of online merchant solutions. They will have to have honed their skills in developing SSL technology. This is an Acronym for ‘Secure Socket Layer’ technology. SSL encrypts the data being transmitted over the net and is almost impossible to decipher. This actually reduces online fraud considerably. If you have a reliable developer to create your software for you, you can proceed with your plans of setting up an online merchant account and cash in on many deals your competitors are profiting by at the moment.