Security of your Zen Cart website should not be taken lightly. There are both immediate and long term consequences to not taking the proper steps. The phrase ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure‘ comes to mind. Zen Cart security can be easier than you think.
I
n the short term, your site could get hacked into or be taken down by your hosting company. There will be lost business and all the time and money spent to just get the site back up again. Once it’s back up, you’ll have to fix the problems and patch the holes anyway. Once a hacker finds a target, they will be back.
In the long term, your reputation could be ruined and customer data could be stolen. Many companies, large and small, have been victims. They spent millions of dollars to upgrade systems, provide identity theft protection to customers and regain the trust of their customers. Prevention is so much easier than the cure.
The first step is to be sure your Zen Cart version is up to date and fully patched. Here is how to find out what version you have installed. If your version is no longer supported or is not the most current version (currently 1.5.5a), an upgrade should be in your future. Outdated software will have known bugs or security vulnerabilities that can be exploited. Hackers share these bugs openly and freely. If you’re site has one, it’s only a matter of time before they find you.
The second step is to follow a list of reasonable security steps for both your hosting account and for your Zen Cart to lock things down. No system is 100% secure. If the bad guys want in bad enough, they will find a way. Sometimes it’s just a matter of making it more difficult so the bad guys go someplace else. Just as Kevin Mitnick. Renaming the admin directory is one of the most simple steps but is often overlooked and simply never performed. Not doing so is like telling the bad guys where you hide the key. In fact, the Zen Cart developers consider it so important, beginning with version 1.5, you could not log into the admin until after you renamed it. This is just one example if the thirteen steps recommended for any Zen Cart store owner.
Having a website accessible to anyone in the world is a risky. Don’t be an easy target. Protect yourself and your customers with our Zen Cart Security Sweep.
Leave A Comment