Launching your dream eCommerce site is such a satisfying moment for business owners, and after working so hard on an implementation it is important to make sure you have safeguarded your site. There could be nothing worse than pouring time, money, and passion into a project, only to have security breached and information stolen. A hacking incident can bring down the entire company, but there are ways to protect your Magento store from such crimes.
When hackers attack your site, they can be looking for a myriad of information to use in a number of dastardly deeds. From phishing and email spam, to defacing or damaging your site, the hacked information can reflect poorly on your business and impact your profitability. But some of the most sensitive information stored on your site isn’t yours; it’s your customers’.
As Andrey Tataranovich says in this blog post, the most important reason to protect your Magento store is the need to protect your clients’ data. If a customer does not feel that they can trust your site with their sensitive information, they will find someone else that they do trust. Meeting PCI Compliance standards is a crucial part of protecting your clients’ data, and Magento Enterprise Edition is equipped to help you achieve those standards.
There are a number of ways to protect your site beyond PCI Compliance. The following are just a few of the ways to keep your Magento site safe.
Passwords are the first line of defense you have against hackers, so keep in mind some basic steps to take to ensure that your passwords are effective:
While this is a great place to start, site security goes beyond passwords alone.
With the growing number of resources available, “brute force” hacking is certainly a force to be reckoned with. One of the easiest ways to avoid such attacks is “security through obscurity.” A great way to achieve such obscurity is to rename the Magento Admin URL.
The default Magento Admin URL is generally something like yourstore.com/admin, which is easy enough for a hacker to guess and attack. By choosing a random combination of letters and numbers for your Admin URL, you are eluding those hackers who are looking for an easy target. Check out Simple Helix’s blog for the breakdown of how to change your Magento Admin URL.
While the new features of a Magento update can be exciting, there is more to an update than the bells and whistles. New versions of Magento will often address security risks and contain a patch. So, keeping your Magento site updated will not only keep you on the cutting edge, technology-wise, it will keep your store as safe as possible.
As Brendan Monahan says in this post, “your Magento store is only as secure as your weakest link.” While the resources created by the Magento community is a beneficial aspect of using Magento, be sure to select extensions wisely. Only use those extensions that have been adequately tested and proven to perform well. Otherwise, you run the risk of one extension being the downfall of your site.
Additionally, just as with Magento overall, keeping your extensions up to date is important to maintain current security standards.
These Magento security tips are just some of the many ways that you can protect your store from hackers. Do your research and choose the right consulting team to protect your investment and safeguard your business.
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