How To Ensure eCommerce Security for Adobe Commerce?

Security is the chief factor that hits our minds when talking about an e-commerce store or any business with an online presence. A secure environment is mandatory to run your company and customers. 

Per the forecast figures, by 2025, cybercrime will likely cost about $10.5 trillion per year. Moreover, by the end of the same year, IoT cyber attacks are anticipated to double.

In this e-commerce market, when our businesses are vulnerable to security risks, you need to ensure that your organization is recognized as a trustworthy brand, and for that, you should keep your customer’s personal and sensitive data well-protected. They will do repeat business when they witness a safe shopping experience with your company. 

Considering Adobe Commerce, to establish and maintain a secure digital commerce environment, the projects (websites, e-commerce store, etc.) are deployed on the cloud infrastructure that would be shared between Adobe Commerce, Adobe, and solution partners. 

This post intends to put forth the importance of e-commerce security, the measures to follow to avoid data breaches, and, unfortunately, if your site gets compromised, how to overcome it.

So, hold tight, as we are about to get deeper and come out with informative content. 

What is E-commerce Security?

E-commerce security is when online businesses follow a set of protocols to ensure safe e-commerce transactions and safeguard the businesses’ and customers’ sensitive data. The target is to protect ecommerce assets from unauthorized access, use, destruction, and modification. 

As you invest in security guards and cameras to keep your physical stores safe from theft, your online stores also need protection against cyberattacks. 

Industries involved in users’ financial, personal, and sensitive data are more prone to cyber-attacks. 

Per Statista, in 2022, professional, consumer, and business services hold the third rank, with a cyber attack share of around 14.6%. 

So, to safeguard your company from any sort of online attack, you should understand the four terms below:

1. Privacy 

It incorporates preventing unauthorized internal and external threats from customer data access. Privacy measures include firewalls, encryption, antivirus software, and more.

2. Authentication

It processes that your organization does what it claims. Your site should have proof to show that it delivers the goods per the expectations. 

3. Non-Repudiation

This term indicates that the company and customer can’t deny their participation in transactions, such as digital signatures. 

4. Integrity

It ensures processes and concepts that provide a company’s data completeness, accuracy, validity, and consistency. A successful e-commerce business demands maintaining a clean customer dataset. 

What is The Importance Of Ecommerce Security?

E-commerce security ensures online stores conduct safe transactions and are well protected from cyber attacks. 

Let’s unveil some reasons that will showcase the importance of ecommerce security and why you should consider e-commerce security. 

• Prevent the loss of data and money and ensure complete business viability. 
• Safeguard company and customer information from any breach. 
• Gain customer’s trust and make them feel valued by securing their data. 

Apart from these, more aspects state how important e-commerce security is. 

Best Practices to Follow to Secure Your E-Commerce Site & Infrastructure for Adobe Commerce

Obviously, you can’t control the risks of invading the security of your e-commerce store. But, you can at least prevent them from adopting the best practices that strengthen the base that may likely attract the attacks. 

Below, we will outline the practices you should follow to avoid such security-relevant incidents. 

1. Consider Recommendations on Priority

Consider the following recommendation as the highest priority: implementing key security practices in all your Commerce deployments. 

Secure the Admin

• Configure advanced security settings – For increased security
• Configure a non-default admin URL – To diminish exposure to scripts that try to get unauthorized access to your website. 
• Enable ReCAPTCHA – Secure the Admin from automated brute force attacks. 
• Follow the least privilege principle.

For your Admin and every SSH connection, enable two-factor authentication

• Secure SSH connections (cloud infrastructure)
• Security for Commerce Admin

Upgrade Adobe Commerce Latest Release

Update your code by upgrading your Commerce project to the trending release of Adobe Commerce, Commerce Services, extensions, hotfixes, security patches, and others that Adobe offers. 

Secure Sensitive Configuration Values

Lock critical configuration values using configuration management. 

Run Security Scans

Monitor every Adobe Commerce and Magento open-source site for security risks and malware using the Commerce Security Scan service.

2. Upgrade to Latest Release

Adobe regularly releases updated solution components to protect customers better and improve security from possible security risks. The best and foremost way to guard your site against security threats is to upgrade to the latest Adobe Commerce app version, install extensions and services, and apply current patches. 

3. Protect Against Malware

Create a complete disaster recovery plan and implement it in case your Commerce site gets attacked. It will control damage and help restore business operations quickly. 

If a customer demands a Commerce instance restoration because of a disaster, you can take the help of Adobe, which promises backup files to customers. 

4. Ensure the Security of Custom Code and Extension

When integrating third-party extensions to your e-commerce store on Adobe Commerce or adding any custom code, remember to apply the following best practices for security. 

• Hire an Adobe Solution Partner:  Finalize a security expert company that can offer secure integrations and delivery of custom code. The company should hold a track record of safeguarding and addressing relevant issues following the best practices. 
• Choose an Adobe Consulting Company: Connect with an Adobe Consulting Company to choose a secure and apt extension. If the extension belongs to the Adobe solution partner, ensure the extension license’s ownership is transferrable if the solution partner changes. Also, before integrating the extension with your Commerce app, review the code, keeping security in mind. Limiting the number of vendors and extensions can diminish the risk exposure. While picking the PHP extension, ensure its developers follow Adobe Commerce development processes, guidelines, and security best practices. On the other edge, the developers should also put aside the PHP capabilities that can result in weak cryptography or remote code execution. 
• Conduct Review Process: Review your source code repository and server to address unprotected files and ensure no publicly visible .git directories, accessible log files, database dumps, and more that may be target attacking. 

5. Maintain The Security of Site & Infrastructure

In this part, we will briefly outline best practices that can help maintain infrastructure and site security for an Adobe Commerce installation. 

• Harness the power of a Web Application Firewall: Deeply analyze traffic and emerge with off patterns, like credit card details being forwarded to an unknown IP address, leveraging the capability of a Web Application Firewall. 
• Block Unauthorized Access: Connect with a hosting partner who can seamlessly set a VPN tunnel to avoid unauthorized access to the customer data and Commerce site. Also, set an SSH tunnel to block unauthorized access to the Commerce app. 
• Use HTTPS: For your newly implemented Commerce site, you can roll out your complete site using HTTPS. While Google uses HTTPS to consider ranking factors, many users purchase from sites that are well-secured with HTTPS. 

6. Build a Disaster Recovery Plan

You should control the damage and restore your standard business operations in case your Commerce site is at risk. 

For a Commerce instance restoration from a disaster, you can take assistance from Adobe and get backup files. Also, you can connect with your Adobe development company, which can perform the restoration for you, freeing you to perform other valued jobs. 

7. Secure Website with SSL Certificates

Secure socket layer (SSL) certificates are best at verifying the site’s identity and work as an encrypted connection. Also, these safeguard credit card details and other possible sensitive transactions on your e-commerce website. The SSL certificates also keep hackers away from using your website as a part of a phishing attack. 

SSL encrypts the sensitive data to be shared across the internet, ensuring the information reaches the intended destination only. This should be the top priority, as all the data sent must pass through numerous computers before the destination server gets it. 

The presence of SSL is important, as, without its presence, your data is more prone to unauthorized access. The e-devices between the sender and receiver can access sensitive data. Hackers will misuse your exposed information, including credit card numbers, passwords, usernames, etc. 

8. Install Antimalware and Antivirus Software

While malware attacks are common in e-commerce sites, threat actors constantly try new ways to access credit cards and personal details from transactions. 

Of course, a smart hacker is primarily responsible for such a compromise. Still, threat actors also reap the advantage of existing, unpatched vulnerabilities, weak ownership, and poor passwords and permission settings in the file system. 

A type of malware, client-side credit card skimmers inject code into merchant website content to be executed in a user’s browser. After users take action, like submitting a form or changing a field value, the skimmers serialize the data and send it to the third-party endpoints. Such edges are usually other at-risk sites that take the face of a relay to send the data to its destination. 

Commonly, malicious code is inserted into the absolute header of the footer of a customer’s e-commerce store. Then, the code accumulates form data that a customer inputs in the storefront, including customer checkout form data and login credentials. Then, it sends this data to another location for malicious purposes, not to the Commerce backend. Besides, malware can make the Admin execute code that takes the place of the original payment form with a fabricated form that uses the payment provider to override protections. 

So, to safeguard your store from such attacks, your computer systems, electronic devices, and web systems need software or programs holding the caliber to detect and block malware. Protective software, such as anti-malware software, is best at addressing your site’s hidden malware. 

Antivirus and antimalware software flag malicious transactions, harnessing the power of sophisticated algorithms and offering fraud risk scores to determine the authenticity of transactions. With regular site scans, you can indeed perform malware attacks. 

9. Use Multilayer Security

Using numerous security layers can help improve your security. A Content Delivery Network (CDN) can stop infectious incoming threats and DDoS threats. The use of machine learning also strengthens them to avoid malicious traffic. 

Ahead, you can include one more security layer, Multi-Factor Authentication. 

For example, two-factor authentication. After entering the login details, users receive an email or SMS regarding actions to take. This way, it blocks fraudsters as they would need not only usernames and passwords but also more factors to access legitimate users’ accounts. But we can’t avoid hacking even if Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) exists. 

10. Train Your Staff

If you want to protect your customer information, your employees and staff members should follow specific rules. Like limiting access to sensitive data, keeping up with password updates, and providing privacy and cybersecurity training to employees. Also, whenever employees leave, be sure you revoke access to each system to stop data selling to cyberattacks or to avoid cybercrimes. 

11. Educate Your Clients

Sometimes, customer behavior also leads to compromised security. Customers log in to various sites and usually use the same password. Here, they need complex and long passwords and remind customers about the risks of phishing attacks to reduce cyberattacks. 

What If Your E-Commerce Site Get Compromised? 

Still, we can’t confirm that our site will always stay safe and secure, following the best practices we have read. So, if your Magento Open Source or Adobe Commerce site gets compromised, you can conduct the below action plan quickly to control this. 

1. Monitor

You should scan your Commerce store to create its security status. Adobe offers a free service, Commerce Security Scan, that lets you diagnose your Commerce site for usual security risks and malware and get security notifications. 

2. Clean 

Hire an online service or an expert Adobe Consultant to clean your website when it is attacked by malicious code. Also, remove every unknown Admin user and reset all Admin passwords. 

3. Protect

Update your Commerce installation with the latest release. Remember to apply all the security patches whenever available if you are on an older version. Apart from that, review and follow security best practices. 

4. Report

If you suspect a vulnerability in Commerce, open the risk with Adobe and insert technical details. 

5. Comply with PCI-DSS Requirements

You can protect your customers’ credit card data by maintaining the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). Every business handling credit card transactions should follow the below requirements:

Create and Maintain a Secure Network

• Install a firewall configuration and maintain it to keep the cardholder data safe. 
• Avoid using vendor-supplied defaults for any system password or other security parameters. 

Safeguard Cardholder Data

• Keep safe the stored cardholder data.
• Encrypt cardholder data to be transmitted across open, public networks. 

Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program

• Regularly update and use anti-virus programs or software. 
• Build and maintain secure apps and systems. 

Implement Robust Access Control Measures

• Restrict access to cardholder data.
• With computer access, assign a unique ID to every person. 
• Limit physical access to cardholder data. 

Frequently Monitor and Test Networks

• Track and monitor every access to cardholder data and network resources. 
• Routinely test security processes and systems. 

Maintain an Information Security Policy

Maintain a policy addressing information security for every personnel. 

6. Upgrade

You can reap the benefits of round-the-clock support and plan an upgrade to Adobe Commerce. 

How Does EmizenTech Ensure the Security of Customers’ E-Commerce Site?

Well, it may be easier to say you can keep your commerce data secure, but trust us, it demands much effort. 

One of the most common targets of cybercriminals is the e-commerce industry. Being an online retailer, you should stay attentive, consider risks, and, if compromised, follow the proper steps and best practices to secure your sites. 

With Adobe, you can confidently run your online business using tools such as security scanning that allow you to keep tabs on your websites and get routine updates on malware, security risks, and unauthorized access. 

But, performing every such job would be challenging for you. For that, you can hire an Adobe Development Company, like EmizenTech, who ensures your security defenses are always up-to-date against existing and surfacing threats. 

We leverage the cloud-based and headless architecture model of Adobe to seamlessly integrate with every essential system of the tech stack while transferring data securely and safely. 

On the back end of Commerce, our team of certified Adobe developers consistently tests for vulnerabilities, manages firewall configurations, deploys server-level patches, and prioritizes incident response. 

Key Highlights of EmizenTech

• Clutch Awarded
• Certified Adobe Developers
• Custom Adobe Consulting Services
• Personalization at Scale
• Smart Content Supply Chain
• Critical 24*7 Support

Conclusion 

However, we don’t have any control over security risks; we can’t even eliminate them. But what can help you are the best practices (above-mentioned) that can make the Commerce installations’ security posture robust and complex to invade. 

With a secure site and infrastructure, your business will become less prone to malicious attacks, ensuring the security of customer data and solutions and helping reduce security-relevant incidents that may lead to costly investigations and sites. 

Although you cannot eliminate all security risks, applying these best practices hardens the security posture of Commerce installations. A secure site and infrastructure make a less attractive target for malicious attacks, ensure the solution’s security and customers’ sensitive information, and help minimize security-related incidents that can cause site disruptions and costly investigations.