Web Application Firewall- A must needed security for your WordPress, Magento, Prestashop & OpenCart Store.
Updated on: October 26, 2023
Naman Rastogi
6 mins read
It takes years to build a reputation
and a few minutes of cyber-incident to ruin it.
― Stephane NappoThis Blog Includes show
Is your Prestashop, Magneto or OpenCart store secured?
Many big e-commerce giants felt similar until their own data and customer personal information like the debit/credit card details, passwords etc. are breached. Generally, we get to know about these issues when our system or logs notifies us. Might be hacker access your system, decided there was nothing important and then move out without your notice. Here are some case studies that will amaze you. Incidents of databases getting compromised and personal info getting leaked is getting common. Many E-commerce giants have lost billions due to security issues. So, how to safeguard your E-commerce store from all these attacks. Yeah, you need a gatekeeper, a Web Application Firewall that filters all traffic coming to your web page.
What is a Web Application Firewall
Web application firewall(WAF) is an application layer security solution that checks traffic coming to your server and takes necessary action to protect it from hackers and malware.
Importance of Firewall in Prestashop, Magneto & OpenCart stores
Precisely, a WAF (Web Application Firewall) is like a gatekeeper that filters all traffic coming to your portal. It protects you from hackers, bots, malware etc. A business can set up online rules for users by having a Web Application Firewall. Large amounts of confidential online information owned by most companies include trade secrets, product development plans, marketing strategies, financial analyses etc. is at risk. Disclosure of this information to a competitor could have dire consequences. Consequently, mechanisms are needed to keep ‘‘good’’ traffic in and ‘‘bad’’ traffic out. To accomplish this goal, we need Web Application Firewalls, an army around your castle. Coming to websites, you can think of it in a way that all the traffic to or from a website is forced through a Web Application Firewall.
Wondering why you should get a Firewall?
Ways in which Firewall protect your Prestashop, Magneto or OpenCart store:
WAF: Request filtering
It examines every incoming and outgoing HTTP request. Only the good traffic is allowed to reach the server, after passing the rules set by the administrator. Requests which look suspicious are blocked and the administrator is notified.
WAF: Malware Scanning for Uploads
Generally, E-commerce stores have an option for uploading bill, prescriptions or an image etc. to take input from the user. Hackers try to exploit this vulnerability by uploading malicious files or script. WAF checks suspicious files and URLs to detect malware stops them and automatically share them with the security community. This prevents hackers to upload the shell script and get full access to your website.
WAF: OWASP Top 10 Threats Protection
The Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) publishes the top 10 most critical web application security risks periodically. OWASP rank these security issues on parameters such as
- Exploitability
- Weakness
- Prevalence
- Weakness detectability
- Technical Impacts
As security is evolving with time, so are the risks. In 2017 according to OWASP, the top 10 most critical web application security risks are as follows
- Injection
- Broken Authentication
- Sensitive Data Exposure
- XML External Entities (XXE)
- Broken Access Control
- Security Misconfiguration
- Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
- Insecure Deserialization
- Using Components with Known Vulnerabilities
- Insufficient Logging & Monitoring
WAF: Blocking Bad Malicious Bots
This issue “bad bot” is getting common than ever. More than 50% of the online traffic is comprised of bots. We hear it used in an e-commerce store, on social media, news and even in politics. Bad bots can cause huge damage to your business through content scraping, spam community forums with obtrusive ads and unwelcome messages. They affect your SEO rank and sales drastically. Web Application Firewall restricts them from Mining security issues, Bandwidth Exploitation, and Content scraping.
WAF: Honeypot system
As the name suggests it is a trap for hackers, bots, and automated scanners to find vulnerabilities in your website.
WAF: Stateful inspection
Particular details of each data packet are checked to a reliable information database.
Firewalls provide you with various features under certain circumstances such as:
- IP addresses: You can give, deny or monitor users based on their IP. Through this feature, you can actively monitor traffic and can take a decision based on their activity.
- Blacklist Reputation Monitoring: Web Application Firewall daily checks multi-search engines and directories is your website blacklisted and the reason behind it.
- Security Mechanisms & Tools- WAF protects you from Spam sign-up. Notify you for Login Activity, Suspicious Login Alerts.
- Rate Limit Web Requests– A crucial feature for E-commerce web portals to limit incoming and outgoing traffic. When the number of requests exceeds the limit, then the further request will be blocked or an error message is generated. The rate limit is crucial for a better flow of data and to increase security by mitigating attacks such as DDoS.
- Domain names: Blocking or allowing access to certain domains, can be done using a firewall.
- Specific words and phrases: Each packet of information is scanned and then matched to the filter content by the firewall. Any word or sentence can be selected to be blocked.
Quality web application firewalls provide security services that include all the above points and much more. Web firewall is the best line of defense for bad traffic entering the workplace.
A detailed guide compiled by our security experts on Website Malware Attacks explaining Causes, Consequences & How to Fix. This will give you an in-depth knowledge of malware attacks, the reason behind them and how you can safeguard yourself.
Astra Firewall for Prestashop, Magneto & OpenCart stores
The best Web Application Firewall that not only provides Malware Removal but also 24×7 protection to your Magento, PrestaShop or Joomla WordPress, OpenCart store in real-time. Security where each request to your website is scanned and only legitimate requests are allowed to the website. Stopping attacks like SQLi, XSS, LFI, RFI, Malware and 80+ other threats. In addition, our community engine which has a community of all CMS websites. From here a bot attacking any website in our network gets flagged even before it reaches your website.
How Astra Web Application Firewall protects you
Astra security seal has increased the lead conversion by 9.7%. Customers feel safe while sharing their personal information on your website, thus more conversions.
A quick glimpse of Astra features
- You can install Astra (taken 2-min) after signing-up
- Astra will start blocking bad bots, malware, hackers & 80+ internet threats just after the installation
- The daily security status of your website right in your inbox
- Now, you can set up your very own ‘Responsible Disclosure’ program
- Astra community of trusted hackers will start finding flaws which automated tools miss
- Now your website is watertight secure!
If you’re considering to secure your website with Astra, check out Astra Demo now.
A right mix of automated security with a human touch for your website, all in 10-minutes flat!
Check our Trustpilot & Capterra reviews.
Don’t wait to get hacked. Secure your website now with Astra security suite.
Naman Rastogi
It’s аn remarkabⅼe рoszt ffor all the internet viewers;
they will οbtaіn benefit from it I am sure.
Thank you so much.
Great post the use of WAF & it features. Currently, I don’t think we can afford it. Do you have guide on best security practices for Joomla & Magento?
Thanks, Steve. Here are the links to guide
Joomla Security – https://www.getastra.com/blog/cms/joomla-security/joomla-security-guide/
Magento Security – https://www.getastra.com/blog/cms/magento-security/magento-security-guide/