Protecting Your E-Commerce Store with Magento Security Updates

Author: Rachel Durkan Category: Web Design Date: June 15, 2020

While every website faces the risk of a virtual break-in, e-commerce sites are an especially popular target because of the valuable data they store, like credit card numbers and other sensitive customer information. Magento – one of the top e-commerce platforms on the web – has become such a popular open source CMS among business owners and marketing professionals alike because it understands this risk and has created a collection of security tools designed to keep its users’ sites free from cyberattacks. New Magento security updates and patches are released regularly as needed, and the company keeps a list of Magento security best practices on its website for all of its users to reference as they build their sites.

How secure is Magento?

Magento security is as effective as you make it. And, fortunately, Magento makes the process of securing your site pretty easy.

One of the greatest advantages of Magento over some of the other e-commerce platforms out there is that, unlike the competition, site security isn’t an add-on; Magento security is built right into the platform.

The team at Magento is also constantly on the lookout for security issues and is regularly issuing patches and other security updates to protect against known threats and vulnerabilities. It is the online retailers that don’t take the time to keep their sites updated that are the most at risk for attacks. But, overall, Magento security breaches are on the decline. In a joint 2018 research study conducted by GoDaddy Security and Sucuri, 4.6% of Magento’s approximately 12,000-plus sites were found to be infected, which was down from 6.5% the year before.

How can Magento be made more secure?

To optimize the security of your Magento site, start by following the checklist below. These tips will help you get the most out of the available Magento security features.

Update to Magento 2

There are currently two Magento versions in circulation: Magento 1 and Magento 2. However, the company announced in 2018 that as of June 2020, it will no longer be providing software support – including Magento security updates – for Magento 1 users. Now is the time to upgrade to Magento 2.

Read the Best Practices

If you haven’t already, familiarize yourself with Magento’s list of security best practices. It offers five immediate actions to protect against brute force attacks; plus, having a strong grasp on the list will help you understand how best to protect your site against any unexpected Magento security issues in the future.

Employ Two-Factor Authentication

Magento 2 offers a two-factor authentication plugin that ensures that only trusted devices are allowed to access the back end of your site. The Magento security plugin works by utilizing four different types of authenticators, including a password and security code combo, to create an extra layer of protection for logging into your site.

Install Magento Security Patches

Magento updates its users every time a new security patch becomes available. Every time one of these Magento security updates is sent your way, it means that Magento has identified a potential security issue and has created a solution to address it. You should always download these patches and install them immediately.

Run Security Scans

Magento recently announced the development of the new Magento Security Scan Tool, which was developed to monitor your site at regular intervals for security risks and malware patches and to detect unauthorized access to your site. It’s free and can be run daily or weekly, with the report being sent directly to your email.

While the above checklist is not exhaustive – there are other more technical and/or advanced actions you can take, too, like using a secure FTP, investing in a sound hosting plan, appending a security key, and preventing MySQL injections – it is a great start toward increasing your level of Magento security. 

To optimize your site with some of the more specialized Magento security measures, contact Paradigm Marketing & Design today. We’ll help you make your site as airtight as possible.