In today's times, with e-commerce dynamically developing and the number of online transactions constantly growing, cybersecurity has become a crucial element of running an online business. Online stores store vast amounts of valuable data, such as customer addresses (both email and physical), purchase history, and other purchase-related data, making them an attractive target for cybercriminals. A successful attack can lead to serious consequences, such as data loss, tarnished company reputation, financial losses, legal repercussions, and even business closure. Therefore, it is essential for online store owners to be aware of potential threats and implement effective protection strategies.

In this article, we will present basic methods to secure your store against attacks. They do not fully cover the topic, but with relatively little effort, they will provide a measurable improvement in security.

Password Security

Despite many available options, passwords remain the primary authentication method. We use them in many places – from stores to social media and online banking. However, not all services offer the same level of security, and from time to time, our password from a particular service may be leaked. In such a situation, criminals may attempt to use this password, combined with our email, to try logging into various services – including our store.

To protect against such a situation, long, unique passwords should be used everywhere. If a password is long and has at least 16 characters, there is practically zero chance that someone will guess it. If we don’t use the same passwords on different services, a leak from one does not risk compromising our other accounts.

How to remember many long and unique passwords? Ideally, don't. :) Password managers are a very good solution, allowing you to store passwords securely. Popular and free solutions include KeePassXC and Bitwarden.

Multi-Factor Authentication

If we have ensured that our password is long and unique, the next step is to enable multi-factor authentication in the administrative panel of our store. As a result, in addition to providing the password, a code generated by a mobile application will be required. The method of enabling this feature depends on the store platform we use:

Codes are not the only method of multi-factor authentication, but they combine a high level of security with ease of use and no need to purchase additional devices.

Regular Updates

We use strong passwords and have multi-factor authentication enabled. What's next? The vast majority of successful attacks exploit vulnerabilities for which updates are already available for download. Our task in this case is to ensure that all components of our store are up to date. This applies to all elements of our system. If we use WooCommerce, we must ensure that WordPress, the WooCommerce plugin, and all other installed plugins are up to date. If we manage the server on which the store platform runs, we must also update system packages.

The situation is different when using platforms that offer the store as a service – in such cases, the service provider is responsible for updating the components they manage.

However, if we use a custom-made store, we must take care of its security ourselves. In such a case, security tests conducted by a company specializing in such services may be helpful.

Backups

If, despite following the best practices mentioned above, a security breach occurs, backups of our data will be essential. These backups should be performed with appropriate regularity. We must answer the question ourselves: what regularity is appropriate – it will be different for a store that handles two transactions per day (one backup per day should suffice) and different for handling hundreds of orders per day. In such a case, making backups every hour does not seem excessive. It is important to store backups in a different location than the store itself. If a break-in occurs and the database is deleted along with its backup, we will not be able to restore anything from the backup.

Importantly, backups should be tested to ensure that we can actually use them if needed.

Summary

Protecting an online store from threats requires dedicating appropriate resources, but by following the advice mentioned above, we will achieve a relatively high level of security at a low cost.

However, it should be noted that the four basic practices mentioned:

  • using secure passwords,
  • using multi-factor authentication,
  • regularly updating components,
  • regularly performing and verifying backups

are a foundation, not a complete exhaustion of the topic.