Time is running out to keep your Magento site secure

I’m going to start with an assumption; that you know your Magento website is still running on a version 1 Magento build and you also know that support and security for this will end in June 2020. June? That’s ages away, definitely a quarter two problem, right? Sorry, but no and in fact your site is already vulnerable to attack.

Let’s start with a recap and I promise not to get too technical. Magento is removing support and security fixes from June 2020 for Magento 1 but the latest releases of version 1 is written in PHP 5.6, the support for which ended on the 31st December 2018. With this in mind, you will need to upgrade to a newer version to remain secure.

Security

Here’s the big consideration, if you rely on a Magento eCommerce website for your business you rely on it being a secure platform for transactions, guess how many shoppers want to offer payment details on a compromised platform? Not many and just wait until Google finds out and your listing plummets down the search engine results pages.

From June there will be no security patches (that’s a zero), if one is discovered you could be targeted very quickly, and I don't need to wax lyrical about the disruption to your business that will cause.

Extensions

Although the core platform will be supported until June, that doesn't cover 3rd party extensions, and unfortunately these may not be compatible with a PHP upgrade.

As a warning, in general, the support will be reduced as they focus on Magento 2 and in our experience, you get significantly less support when a platform has been given its best before date!

Is it all doom and gloom?

Let’s spin some positives from this. Magento 2 is a vastly improved platform with all Magento’s focus on enhancing and improving. The backend systems are much more intuitive, and the range of customisation options orders are greater.

It is a great time to make those other improvements you’ve been thinking about for your customers, or the ones that focus on reducing staff time with a more efficient workflow.

How we can help

We are big Magento fans, and although we’re platform agnostic, if you’re looking to upgrade to Magento 2 we’re in a perfect place to help.

Come and talk to us, we can carry out a commercial and technical review (because we love data and not guesswork) and time is running short as your Magento 1 website is already vulnerable. So, don’t hesitate.

For more information on our ecommerce website design, contact us today.