Magento Security Tips to Secure Your Ecommerce Store

Posted on December 25th, 2019

Magento is a free, open-source that uses PHP scripting language and offers features and tools to build an eCommerce website. It is a significant force in the eCommerce industry due to its regular updates and features. Magento offers out-of-the-box security from different suspicious activities, such as spamming, stealing user data, phishing, etc.

Even after the regular updates and releases, the Magento website is sometimes at the risk of hacking. The website administrator can follow these below Magento security practices in the websites to avoid hacking and suspicious activities. Security is a crucial factor in maintaining an eCommerce website.

Secure Your Magento Store

To call your website a trusted one, you should make sure that your website is free from any hacking. Always make sure that you are well informed about all the features and security fixes of the latest Magento version. Before implementing the latest version of Magento, always test the version using different Magento testing methods. An eCommerce store owner should always ensure that their site is secure and free from attacks and threats. Some of the security practices that you can follow in Magento are:

1) Use the Stable and Latest Magento Version

If there are any common security threats in the Magento version, the developers fix the same in the next release. So, a Magento store administrator must be well informed about all the features and security fixes of the latest version. So, it is always essential to run different Magento testing and then decide and use the stable Magento version for your website.

2) Custom Path for your Admin Panel

Most of the website admin panel has the same URL format of <Your_site_address>/admin. This standard syntax makes the admin login page prone to attacks, such as brute force attacks. You can set a custom path for your admin page by replacing the /admin flag from the URL to any other custom word to avoid these attacks. To customize the admin panel URL, you need to edit the ‘local.xml; file in Magento 1 and ‘env.php’ file in Magento 2. This practice can keep the hackers away from your admin panel even if they get hold of your password.

3) Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

It is always essential to have a secure and reliable password for your eCommerce website. But even after having a secure and reliable password, there is a chance of hacking. To discourage hackers and to secure your website to an extent, you can use the two-factor authentication method.

In Magento, you can use the Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) extension to provide an extra layer of clandestineness to your eCommerce website. The built-in 2FA extension enhances the website’s admin login security by using two levels of authentication, one with the admin password and the other with the security code that gets sent to your smartphone/email. Always share this security code with authorized people to make sure that unauthorized users can not log in to the admin panel. There are other extensions available in Magento to ensure Two-Factor Authentication. This security practice can fix any password-related risks on your Magento store to an extent.

4) Active Backup Plan

Even if your Magento website is entirely secure, you should have an active backup plan. A backup plan can help your website to overcome any hacking or crash. Always store the backups on an off-site location or arrange the backups through an online provider to prevent the data loss. These backups can help you recover your website even after a crash or hack with minimal or no data loss.

5) Secure FTP

One of the methods of how your website gets hacked is when the hackers guess or intercept your FTP password.  To avoid this type of attack, you need to secure your FTP password. To secure the data transfer, you can use the Secured File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). The SFTP authenticates a user by decrypting the private key, and this makes it more secure than FTP.

6) MySQL Injection Prevention

The latest version of Magento has the security fix to prevent MySQL injection, but the website administrator should not entirely rely on that. If you want to prevent the MySQL injection, it is essential to secure your Magento website with web application firewalls, such as ‘NAXSI’. The web application firewalls can prevent the website and customer safe from attacks, such as MySQL injection.

7) Encrypted SSL/HTTPS Connection

There is a chance that the data send through unencrypted connection can get intercepted. The interception gives the hacker a chance to peek into the credentials. So, it is always essential to use a secure and encrypted connection while sending any data. In Magento, you can enable the ‘Use Secure URLs’ option in the system configuration menu to get a secure SSL/HTTPS URL. The use of encrypted SSL/HTTPS connection can make your website compliant with the PCI data security standard and also ensures that the online transactions are secure.

 

Final Word

Security has always remained the primary concern for all eCommerce store owners. The Magento platform provides out-of-the-box security. The above mentioned Magento security tips can enhance your eCommerce store security and safety. Please comment below for any questions or queries. If you are an InterServer customer, please reach out to our support team for further help.

One Response to “Magento Security Tips to Secure Your Ecommerce Store”

  1. andrew says:

    This was a very informative blog and I really enjoyed reading it. But I also have a few points regarding it to discuss with you.

    Security breaches can lead to loss of data, damage to your reputation, and even financial losses or your online business. Magento web development services can help you improve the security of your website by implementing a variety of security measures.

    Let’s look at a few ways in which you can improve the security of your website with Magento Web Development:-

    1. Unique Admin URL
    2. Strong Admin Name and Password
    3. Use a Trusted Hosting Provider

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