Recently hackers showed us again how vulnerable open source code based e-commerce sites are. Over 100.000 webshops were injected with malware. In fact a very old fashioned attack was conducted. One of the main reasons the hackers succeeded is because it’s rather hard for the webshop owners to update their code to the most recent versions. Maintenance of your open source code based e-commerce platform should be high on your priority list. If you cannot handle this, it’s best to consider a maintained platform. Your shop’s down time means business loss. I wouldn’t like to take this risk. Would you?
Open-source platform attacks have high impact
According to Networkworld, http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/072811-ecommerce-attack.html, security vendor Armorize reported at least 100,000 Web pages based on OS Commerce might be hit through a mass iFrame injection attack. These webshops have been compromised with malware.
Attacks across the Web are not uncommon and especially open-source platforms are preferred targets. For the hackers it’s one of the best ways to achieve high impact. Fortunately, in most cases new security patches are being provided to prevent your web page from such mass attacks, provided that the newest application version is used. Unfortunately, there are many web pages, webshops included, running an outdated software version, even several updates behind. As it’s rather easy for the hackers to find out what software version your web page is using, such outdated web pages are extremely exposed to attacks.
You need to maintain your open-source based webshop
Many users of these open-source based platforms just don’t manage to maintain their web pages or even have no idea how important the proper maintenance is for their business. They assume they can rely on such an open-source solution, expecting the availability of their webshop to be stable.
Just imagine the following common situation.
A start-up is searching for a proper online platform to run his business in the most efficient and lucrative way. In the beginning, there is little money available. The business owner chooses an affordable solution, very often not even realizing what exactly he needs. When the business develops successfully, in no time the primarily chosen solution appears to be an insufficient one. No longer can it support the developing business needs. Unfortunately, in most cases the business owner notices it far too late – once he gets confronted with serious problems.
What happens if your webshop goes down once you managed to realize a successfully running shop? Shouldn’t it be running day and night, seven days a week? Can you handle that? Are you able to maintain the technological platform your shop is running on? Do you want to spend your precious time on that or can you afford to hire someone to manage it?
Focus on your business by using a managed solution
Shouldn’t you consider a different solution? Today “the Cloud” offers many fully managed solutions. The service provider maintains the platform 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Continuous development will provide you with new features and they will protect you from potential attacks. In this way, as a business owner you can sleep tightly, as you are always running the latest software version. This, as earlier mentioned, prevents you in most cases from dangerous attacks that can disturb or even destroy your business. There is always a risk of an attack, though. However in this case, the provider is obliged to fix it.
It won’t surprise you we believe these managed services platforms are the best way to follow. We love to share our opinion with you and will provide you with any requested advice. Feel free to contact us or to reply below.
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