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How To Secure a Magento Site: Helpful Tips & Extensions

Magento 2 makes it easy to build an ecommerce store and sell globally. But this ease of use comes at a cost. Store owners aren’t webmasters and don’t always know how to secure a Magento site from security risks and cyberattacks.

A security breach can result in expensive lawsuits, crippling fines, and permanent loss of reputation. A 2021 report by the Ponemon Institute found that the average cost of a data breach is approximately $4.24 million globally.

Do you want to learn how to secure a Magento website?

Here’s what you need to know:

How To Secure a Magento Website in 4 Ways

Operating an online store without securing it can lead to a data breach. Here are four simple Magento security tips to help you curb cyber threats.

1. Secure the Server Environment

A Magento store is only as secure as its weakest link. As a platform that relies on several technologies such as PHP, MySQL, and Elasticsearch, Magento is susceptible to compromise from multiple sources.

A vulnerability in any of its associated applications can compromise your online store. Therefore, before you secure your Magento installation, secure its associated applications and hosting environment.

Here’s how:

  • Use SSH and SFTP to access your remote servers over an encrypted connection.
  • Use unique and strong passwords for each application.
  • Change passwords every three to six months.
  • Set secure filesystem permissions with core Magento files set to read-only.
  • Check access and error logs regularly.
  • Set up local and remote backups for better reliability.
  • Modify the Magento docroot to improve security.
  • Use a web application firewall.

Once you’ve secured the Magento hosting environment, you can move on to securing the core application.

2. Apply Security Patches on Time

The best way to secure your Magento store is with security patches. These patches help protect your store from security loopholes without risking the compatibility issues of an upgrade.

Adobe recently identified critical vulnerabilities affecting Magento Commerce and Open Source versions 2.3.3-p1 to 2.3.7-p2 and 2.4.0 to 2.4.3-p1. It released two security patches, MDVA-43395 and MDVA-43443, to resolve the security vulnerabilities.

Applying a security patch is easy. You only need command line access to the Magento server and you’re good to go.

Here’s how to secure a Magento website by applying the latest security updates:

1. Upload the Magento security patch file to the Magento root directory.

2. Run the following command:

<pre><code>

$ patch -p1 < %patch_name%.composer.patch

</pre></code>

If “-p1” doesn’t work, try “-p2” instead.

3. Refresh the Magento cache from the CLI using:

<pre><code>

$ bin/magento cache:clean

</pre></code>

Make sure you test all patches in a staging environment before applying them to your production server.

3. Configure & Enforce Two-Factor Authentication

The Magento admin holds all your store data, including customer data and order information. To help merchants protect this information from unauthorized access, Adobe introduced Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) in Magento versions 2.4 and above.

Magento’s 2FA security module supports authentication using Google Authenticator, Authy, Duo Security, and Universal 2nd Factor devices such as Yubikey. You can enable them in the Magento admin panel from Stores > Settings > Configuration > Security > 2FA.

You can also force a global authenticator for all admin accounts by navigating to Stores > Settings > Configuration > Security > 2FA and following these steps:

1. Expand the General section, uncheck the Use system value checkbox.

2. Select a provider from the Providers to use section.

3. Click Save Config.

4. Change The Encryption Key Frequently

Magento 2 uses an encryption key to encrypt sensitive information. It uses the industry-standard AES-256 (Advanced Encryption Standard) algorithm to encrypt data such as payment and integration passwords and SHA-256 (Secure Hash Algorithm) for all other data.

The Encryption Key tool in the Magento admin can and should be used to change the encryption key intermittently and in the event of a security breach. That ensures hackers can’t decode your encrypted store data should they gain access to it.

Are you wondering how to secure a Magento site by changing its encryption key?

It’s easy. First, update the file permissions for the app/etc/env.php file and make it writable. Then, go to System > Other Settings > Manage Encryption Key in the Magento admin and follow these steps:

1. Set the Auto-generate Key option to Yes.

2. Click Change Encryption Key.

3. Copy the new encryption key and save it in a safe location.

Make sure you change the app/etc/env.php file permissions to read-only when you’re done.

Popular Magento 2 Security Extensions

Using a Magento 2 security extension doesn’t guarantee online security. However, it can help simplify securing your Magento store. Here are three popular extensions you can consider.

1. Security Suite for Magento 2 by Amasty

Security Suite for Magento 2 helps you monitor admin activity and protects your store from spam and bots. It also includes 2FA support for an extra layer of security and allows you to manage user permissions.

Price: $419 for the first year and $255/year after that.

2. Magento 2 Security by Mageplaza

The Mageplaza Magento 2 Security extension keeps the bad guys out of your store with features such as a security checklist, brute force protection, login logs, and file change detection to identify suspicious activity.

Price: Community at $99 and Professional at $149 for the first year.

3. Watchlog by Wyomind

Watchlog by Wyomind is a free Magento 2 security extension that tracks traffic on the backend of your Magento site and protects it from brute force attacks. Its paid version, Watchlog Pro, adds blacklisting, automation, and reporting functionalities.

Price: Free, Pro at $151.

Final Thoughts: How To Secure a Magento Site

Business owners aren’t online security experts. And the rapidly evolving threat landscape makes it challenging to secure Magento from exploits. Basic security best practices such as SSL certificates and a unique admin URL can only take you so far.

We’ve shown you how to secure a Magento site in four ways. Besides these tips, you can also use the free Magento Security Scan tool to set up security alerts for common security threats.

Managed Magento hosting by Hostdedi simplifies Magento store protection. Our plans include automatic malware monitoring, proactive security patches, and 30-day backups.

Sign up for a plan today.

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3 Tips To Achieve a Healthy Web Developer Work-Life Balance

You’ve been working on a client’s project for the last couple of hours. It’s a section of the backend you’re struggling to fix. But you feel like you’re close. You were supposed to finish at 5:00 pm. It’s now 6:30 pm.

A thought flickers in your mind, “I should really stop working.” But you think you’ve nearly cracked it. So you turn back to your code and continue.

That is the reality for some of us — a web developer work-life balance struggle. And it’s not just the case for web developers or software engineers. You could be a writer finishing your last chapter or a CEO trying to clear down the numerous emails that have been sent to you.

It’s hard to want to stop when you feel like you’re in the flow. That next feature, that next HTML webpage. It’s also hard when you’re trying to grow a business as a freelance web developer so you can enjoy the freedom it should give you, but your free time goes to working on your projects.

It’s such a different life compared to a job as a software developer, working somewhere Amazon or Microsoft, who offer a structured career path with health care benefits.

If work’s been taking up most of your time, don’t fret. We’re going to look at why a work-life balance is so important and how saying no, setting yourself a hard stop, and getting extra help will improve your work-life balance.

The Importance of a Web Developer Work-Life Balance

As you begin, everything seems ok to say yes to. Project after project is coming your way. You have the benefit of remote working.

You’re waking up early to chip away at your workload and work late into the night. It’s starting to become more than a full-time job when really you wanted it to be just part-time. And running your startup is coming at a cost.

If you don’t get the right work-life balance, it can harm your personal life.

Your relationships between your family and friends can suffer due to the lack of time and attention you spend on them.

You can suffer burnout, not wanting to do anything, feeling unmotivated to do the simplest of tasks, not having the creative spark you used to have, which is essential for web development.

It may be hard to imagine, but spending less time working can actually make you more productive. In Iceland, the think tank Autonomy ran experiments reducing the number of working days.

In multiple businesses, they reported improvements in wellbeing and “similar levels of service provision that were maintained in participating workplaces even though fewer hours of work were required to deliver them.”

But how can you achieve that for yourself?

Web Developer Work-Life Balance

To help achieve a web developer work-life balance, it’s important to prevent work from taking over your time. You need to remember that YOU come first, and you need to prioritize that.

Here are three ways to improve your work-life balance as a front end developer or a full stack developer.

1. Saying No

Landing your first job is one of the best feelings. Someone has put their trust in your talents and skills to produce a website for them. And you earn money while doing something you love.

After time you get more people wanting your services, and before you know it, you don’t have the time in the day or even the week to manage it all.

That is where the power of saying no comes in. It can be easy to say yes to every project that comes your way, but when will you get the work done? By working overnight for days?

Create a filter so you know when to say yes or no to a job. Do you say yes only to certain types of companies? Say yes to jobs that pay over a certain amount? Do you say no if you have X number of jobs you’re currently working on?

These filters can prevent you from being overwhelmed and stressed and help with your web developer work-life balance.

2. Setting a Hard Stop

Being a freelance web developer means that you’re your own boss. You can plan your own work time. If you want to wake up at 10 am and start working, you can. If you’re going to take on a particular project so that you can learn a new programming language, you can.

The problem with being your own boss is there is no one closing up the office, asking you to leave. Or, if you’re a remote worker, no one is messaging you to stop working. Your web developer work-life balance isn’t being looked after by anyone other than yourself.

As mentioned before, working long hours is not good for your productivity or health. It can be easy for your working hours to be over 12 hours a day. Working 12 hours a day, where are you finding time to eat healthily, exercise, and spend time with your friends?

That is why you need to set your hard stop. At a particular time of the day, or after so many hours have passed, you stop what you’re doing, put down your CSS and JavaScript, turn off your computer and go unwind.

Watch Netflix. Go rock climbing. Do some watercolor paintings.

Whatever it is, make sure it’s not work-related and gets you out of your work environment. You need to give yourself the time to recharge your batteries and reset your mind.

3. Get Some Extra Help

Another way of working on your web developer work-life balance is by getting help in your work. That could be in various ways.

It could be outsourcing admin to someone to give you more time on the vital work.

It could be using tools such as Hostdedi StoreBuilder to reach your end goals faster. Or use a service like Zapier to automate some of your work.

Related reading: 10 No-Code Tools To Improve Your Freelance Business >>

Or using frontend frameworks such as Reactjs or Angular to help speed up development.

Make a list of the actions that you carry out daily or weekly and per project so you can see what you could outsource, automate or get help with.

Final Thoughts: 3 Ways To Achieve a Healthy Web Developer Work-Life Balance

It can be easy when starting as a freelance web developer to take on as many jobs creating web applications as possible and work for as long as it takes to complete the project. Still, the reality is that it will affect your life negatively in the long run.

Just remember to take time out for yourself.

If one of your projects is to help a client build an online store, Hostdedi StoreBuilder can get you up and running without writing a single line of code and using the power of WordPress.

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