How to Secure a Magento Site - Quick Tips to Use Now

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How to Secure a Magento Site - Quick Tips to Use Now

While online shopping is trending up, that also means (unfortunately) cybercriminal activity is too. The multiple criminal groups referred to as Magecart has evolved and grown and hackers are becoming more sophisticated.

Check out our insight on how to protect against Magecart attacks.

Beyond Magecart, there are numerous security threats out there. There is no single eCommerce platform that is able to eliminate all security risks. Fortunately, there are many ways you can secure a Magento site and make it less appealing to cybercriminals. 

Implement These Magento Security Practices Now

If you are preparing a new Magento site or refreshing a current site, these are easy ways to ensure your site is less likely to experience a security breach.

  1. Communicate with your hosting provider and system integrators. Discuss what their secure software development life cycle looks like. Make sure they are testing their code for issues and they are in accordance with industry standards like The Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP).
  2. Launch your entire site over HTTPs. For those already installed, create a plan now to upgrade the entire site in 2021 to run over to a securely encrypted, HTTPs channel. The effort will future-proof your site- Google has even taken to using HTTPs as a ranking factor.
  3. Review all 3rd party plug-ins. Choose vendors that have solid industry reputations and that are from secure locations like the Magento Marketplace. Discuss how they approach security issues before partnering.  
  4. Use a custom Admin URL. This will reduce your exposure to scripts trying to break into every Magento site and is an easy change.
  5. Block access to development, staging, and testing systems. Use IP allow lists and .htaccess password protection. 
  6. Use the correct file permissions. Set core Magento and directory files to read-only.
  7. Connect with our Magento site security experts at Echidna to discuss how to monitor your sites for security risks, update malware patches, and detect unauthorized access with this tool.

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Top Magento Security Threats and Prevention Tips

Several security threats are becoming more commonplace. We are sharing tips to prevent your site from falling victim and secure a Magento site.

Server Attacks 

You will want to protect your site from distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS), if your eCommerce site is hosted under your control. DDoS attacks overwhelm the server with traffic, interrupting service on your eCommerce site and making it hard for shoppers to get in.

Prevention Tips:

 

Credit Card Hijacking / Card Skimming

As the name implies, this is when users' credit and debit card information is stolen from your site. It is usually done by adding malicious scripts called "skimmers" to a Magento website. 

Prevention Tips:

Website Defacement

Website defacement is like graffiti on your site or files. Additionally, 3rd party apps and integrations are some of the top offenders that introduce this type of vulnerability.

Prevention Tips:

Security Prevention Starts From Day 1

Protecting your Magento installation begins with your initial setup, and continues with the security-related configuration settings, password management, and ongoing maintenance. As cybercriminals evolve, your security strategy will as well. 

If you are choosing to stay on Magento 1 since it has declared its EOL, cybersecurity should be a top priority. Merchants still on Magento 1 could be vulnerable to serious security risks more than their peers, but there are still options available.

Echidna is committed to helping merchants maintain a secure environment, even those choosing to stay on Magento 1. We work with you to establish and maintain a secure environment, implement methods for early detection, and determine a plan of action in the event of a breach.

Contact Us.