How to Protect Magento Store from Being Hacked

Because Magento enjoys the largest slice in the eCommerce marketplace with more than 56,000 online shopping stores doing great business on Magento, wide range of Magento modules available and the percentage increasing each day, Magento stores are the prime target of cyber criminals. However, most ecommerce merchants rarely care about Magento security practices. 

Usually, these nefarious elements invade online businesses to conduct suspicious activities like:

• Pishing
• Spamming
• Stealing user data

Although Magento regularly updates and releases security patches to help eRetailers protect their stores, there are Magento security best practices to follow in order to ensure the safety of the users and crucial data.

Best Practices to Protect Your Magento Store

When you have an online store, trust plays an important part because no user will want provide the credit cart details if they feel something fishy about your platform. By following the checklist, you can prevent Magento security issues.

No module from untrusted platform

When looking for the Magento modules, don’t go for the platforms that are offering unbelievable deals for the extensions that you will get at much higher cost. Third-party modules should be downloaded from a trusted online platform because in most cases, hackers invade through the virus they penetrate into your store through these modules.

Ensure dealing with only a reliable platform when you need premium Magento extension.

Action Points

• Deal with only a reliable and trusted extension development company.
• Be vigilant if something looks fishy and immediately remove the extension.

No simple text passwords

Hackers are expert at cracking passwords and do you think it would be difficult to crack “Password123” for them? To many people make the same mistake of using the same password that conceal sensitive information such as your Magento admin panel. Setting up an encrypted password may seem time consuming, but it really isn’t. 

Action Points

• Use password that is really hard to crack.
• Password should never contain your name or admin.
• Update all passwords to encrypted passwords.
• Change your admin password routinely.
• Make sure everyone else is doing the same.

Check Admin User Permission Regularly

Hackers, in order to get into your Magento admin panel, will need to create an admin user. So, keep an eye on number of users in the list and if you find anyone that should not be there then it is likely your Magento Admin panel has been breached. 

As soon as you find the unwanted guest in admin panel, immediately inform your developer.

Action Points

• Check your user permission routinely Systems->Permissions->Users.
• If it looks suspicious, delete the account immediately and inform the developer. 

Always Install Security Patches

While it might seem like a waste of money, but it is seen as a dead cost. It could be the best investment you make to keep your store secure. The true value of having security patches installed is based on how much damage someone could do if they are able to access to your store.

Magento team, along with offering security patches, also informs where the vulnerability may be. Before installing the patches, make sure to check the store for anything suspicious.

Action Points

• Check security patches update at https://magento.com/security-patch
• If you are not using updated patches, then get them installed.

Bottom Line

Lastly, although it failed to earn a place as number 5… Be kind and be nice. You can’t be sure who you are dealing with and what they can do, it could be an ex-employee, a disgruntled customer or even a stranger. Although most of the attacks are done by strangers. It is, however, better to keep smiling and remember to keep safe.