Running an e-shop offers many opportunities, but it also brings security risks you can’t ignore. As online shopping grows, cybercriminals keep evolving their tactics to exploit weaknesses. Protecting your online store from cyber threats is crucial for both keeping your business secure and your customers’ payment information safe.

From credit card details to other sensitive data, your customers trust you to protect their confidential information. This guide will walk you through the eCommerce security best practices, covering key areas to help strengthen your online store and reduce the risk of cyber threats.

Why it’s important to protect your eCommerce website

A single security breach can cause serious harm to your business. It can lead to significant financial losses, legal penalties, a loss of customer trust, and severe reputational damage that takes years to rebuild. Imagine the fallout if customer data is stolen, or your store goes offline during a busy sales period.

Beyond the immediate chaos, a security breach can result in:

• Financial losses: Costs from investigations, legal fees, fines (like GDPR or CCPA penalties), credit monitoring for affected customers, and lost revenue during downtime.
• Reputational damage: News of a data breach can spread fast, leading to bad publicity and loss of customer confidence. Regaining trust is hard once it’s lost.
• Legal and compliance issues: Failing to follow data protection rules can lead to heavy fines and legal consequences.
• Operational disruptions: Cyber-attacks can shut down your store, affecting sales, your supply chain, and day-to-day operations.

Strong eCommerce security isn’t just about meeting compliance requirements. It’s about building a reliable, trustworthy online store that customers can depend on.

Common eCommerce security threats

Cyber threats constantly change, with attackers finding new ways to target online shops. Understanding these common threats is the first step in building effective defenses.

SQL injection and XSS vulnerabilities

SQL injection and Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) are two common weaknesses that can seriously harm your eCommerce website’s security:

• SQL injection. This attack occurs when an attacker inserts malicious SQL code into input fields on your website, like login forms or search bars. If your server doesn’t validate these inputs properly, the attacker’s code can run on your website’s database. This could grant them unauthorized access to, or even manipulation of, your database, potentially exposing sensitive data like customer records, order details, and even credit card information.
• Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities. XSS attacks involve injecting malicious scripts into trusted websites. When a user visits your site, their browser runs the malicious script, which can lead to session hijacking, redirecting users to fake sites, or stealing customer data. For online stores, this can mean compromised user accounts or tricking customers into giving away personal information.

Phishing attacks targeting online stores

Phishing attacks remain one of the most common and effective methods for cybercriminals. In eCommerce, phishing can target both the business itself and your customers.

• Targeting businesses: Attackers may send fake emails to your employees, pretending to be vendors, banks, or company leadership. These emails try to trick employees into sharing login credentials for your store’s admin panel or financial systems. If they succeed, attackers can gain direct access to sensitive business data.
• Targeting customers: Malicious actors often create fake websites or send fraudulent emails that look like real e-stores. They trick customers into entering their login or payment information on these fake sites, leading to data breaches and financial fraud.

Teaching your employees and customers how to spot phishing attempts is one of the most important steps you can take. Human error is still the easiest way for cybercriminals to bypass technical security measures.

Malware and ransomware

Malware—short for malicious software—includes many harmful programs designed to damage, disrupt, or gain unauthorized access to systems. Ransomware is a particularly damaging form of malware.

• Malware. Your eCommerce site can get infected with malware through insecure plugins, weak hosting environments, or phishing attacks. Malware can steal customer data, disrupt your site, redirect traffic, or use your site to spread further infections, harming customer trust and data security.
• Ransomware. Attackers lock your files by encrypting them and demand payment, often in cryptocurrency, to unlock them. For online shops, this could mean losing access to product catalogs, customer data, and order history, stopping your business entirely and risking a data breach. Regular backups are critical for recovering from ransomware attacks.

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks

DDoS attacks overwhelm your website with fake traffic, making it unavailable for real customers who want to browse products, place orders, or complete online transactions.

These attacks can cause significant financial losses from lost sales, damaged reputation, and the costs associated with mitigating the attack and restoring service. While they don’t always directly aim to steal data, they can be used as a smokescreen for other, more targeted attacks.

Effective security measures for DDoS include specialized mitigation services and robust infrastructure.

Card fraud and other eCommerce transaction risks

Payment processing is at the core of eCommerce, making it a key target for fraud.

• Credit card fraud. Fraudsters may use stolen card information to make purchases or use tactics like e-skimming (Magecart attacks), where malicious code is placed on your checkout page to capture payment details as customers enter them.
• Chargebacks. Fraudulent transactions often result in chargebacks, where the rightful cardholder disputes the charge. This can lead to financial penalties for your store and harm your account processing reputation.
• Identity theft. If attackers steal customer data like personal identifiable information (PII), they can commit identity theft, harming your customers and potentially leading to legal and financial consequences for your business.

These common eCommerce security threats show why having a layered security strategy is essential to protect every part of your online store and keep your customers’ trust.

Best eCommerce security practices for online store administration

Your store’s admin side needs as much protection as the customer-facing side. Here’s how to keep your business secure:

Use multi-factor authentication (MFA)

Multi-factor authentication adds a critical layer of protection to user accounts. Instead of relying solely on a password, MFA requires users to provide two or more verification factors to gain access. These could be something they know (password), something they have (a code from an authenticator app or SMS), or something they are (biometrics like a fingerprint).

Secure your eCommerce website with an SSL certificate

An SSL certificate (Secure Sockets Layer) is foundational for any eCommerce business. It encrypts the connection between your server and your customers’ browsers. When a website has an SSL certificate, its URL begins with https:// instead of http://, and a padlock icon appears in the browser’s address bar.

Regularly update your eCommerce platform and plugins

Outdated software is a top target for bad actors. Updates fix security gaps, so don’t skip them.

Make it a habit to:

• Update your platform. Whether you use Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, or another platform, ensure it’s running on the latest version.
• Update themes and plugins. Third-party tools are often sources of vulnerabilities. Regularly check for and apply updates.
• Remove unused plugins/themes. Unused components can still pose a security risk. If you don’t use them, delete them.
• Automate updates where possible. Consider automating updates for critical security patches, but always test them in a staging environment first.

This proactive approach to maintenance is essential for your store’s security.

Implement secure payment gateways to protect your online store

Payment processing is the most critical part of your e-shop’s security. Always use reputable, secure payment gateways that employ advanced encryption, tokenization, and fraud detection technologies to protect the data. In that way, transactions between your store and the customer’s bank will be handled safely, and the transmission of cardholder data and other payment information will remain secure.

By using robust, industry-standard payment gateways, you significantly improve the security measures protecting your customers’ financial information.

Educate employees and customers on eCommerce security best practices

Technology alone isn’t enough; human error is stilla significant vulnerability. That’s why education is such a powerful security measure.

• Employee training. Train your employees on identifying phishing attempts, using strong, unique passwords, understanding social engineering tactics, and following proper procedures for handling personal data. Regular refreshers are vital. Employees with access to your web server or admin panels should be particularly security-aware.
• Customer awareness. While you can’t control your customers’ security habits, you can educate them. Provide clear information on your website about your security practices, how to identify official communications from your e-store, and tips for protecting their information (e.g., using strong passwords, being wary of suspicious links). This fosters trust and empowers them to be part of your security defense.

Protecting customer data

At its heart, e-shop security is all about safeguarding confidential data. This extends beyond just credit card details to encompass all personally identifiable information like names, addresses, phone numbers, and purchase history.

A data breach involving this information can result inidentity theft, phishing attacks against your customers, and severe regulatory penalties for your business.

Key aspects of protecting customer data include:

• Data minimization: The less you store, the less you risk. Only collect the data you absolutely need for legitimate business purposes.
• Encryption at rest and in transit: Ensure all confidential data is encrypted, both when it’s stored on your servers (data at rest) and when it’s being transmitted across networks (data in transit) via an encrypted connection.
• Access control: Implement strict access controls, limiting who can access sensitive customer data to only those employees who require it for their job functions. Use role-based access control (RBAC) to define granular permissions.
• Regular data audits: Periodically audit your data storage and access logs to identify any suspicious activity or unauthorized access attempts.
• Clear data retention policies: Establish clear policies for how long you retain customer data. Once data is no longer needed, securely delete it.

Advanced security measures

While basic network security practices are essential, advanced security measures are increasingly necessary to combat modern threats.

Consider:

Web Application Firewall (WAF)

A WAF sits between your website’s server and the internet, monitoring and filtering HTTP traffic. It acts as a shield, protecting your website from common attacks like SQL injection, XSS, and other web-based vulnerabilities before they reach your application.

Real-time monitoring

Continuous monitoring of your e-store for suspicious activity, unauthorized access attempts, and performance anomalies is crucial. This includes monitoring server logs, network traffic, and application logs. Real-time alerts allow for rapid response to potential threats.

Vulnerability scanning

Regularly scan your eCommerce platform, plugins, and underlying infrastructure for known vulnerabilities. Automated vulnerability scanners can identify weaknesses that attackers might exploit, allowing you to patch them proactively.

Penetration testing

Beyond automated scans, professional penetration testing involves ethical hackers simulating real-world attacks to uncover vulnerabilities that automated tools might miss. This provides a deep understanding of your eCommerce website security posture.

Attack surface monitoring

This involves continuously discovering, inventorying, and monitoring all internet-facing assets of your website (e.g., domains, subdomains, IP addresses, cloud instances) to identify potential entry points for attackers.

Threat intelligence integration

Using threat intelligence feeds can provide early warnings about new cyber threats and attack vectors targeting the eCommerce industry. This helps adapt your security measures before an attack happens.

Stay compliant with security standards

Following industry-specific and regional compliance standards is not just about avoiding fines; it’s about building a solid foundation for data protection and demonstrating a commitment to protecting customer data.

Understanding PCI-DSS requirements for eCommerce websites

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of security standards designed to ensure that all companies that process, store, or transmit credit card details maintain a secure environment. For eCommerce websites that handle online transactions, PCI DSS compliance is mandatory.

Key requirements of PCI DSS include:

• Establishing a secure network, using firewalls to protect cardholder data, and changing all default system passwords.
• Protecting cardholder data by encrypting its transmission across open, public networks and securing stored information.
• Maintaining a vulnerability management program through regularly updating anti-virus software and developing secure systems and applications.
• Implementing strong access controls to limit who can view cardholder data, assigning unique IDs for computer use, and restricting physical entry.
• Regularly monitoring and testing networks, including tracking all access to network resources and cardholder data, and routinely testing security systems and processes.
• Maintaining an information security policy that establishes guidelines addressing information security for all staff.

Achieving and maintaining PCI DSS compliance is a continuous process that involves regular assessments, remediation, and reporting. Failing to comply can result in severe penalties, including fines and the inability to process credit card payments.

GDPR and CCPA compliance for protecting customer data

Beyond financial data, general data privacy regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States impose strict requirements on how eCommerce businesses collect, store, process, and protect personal data.

• GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). Applies to any business handling EU citizens’ data, requiring consent, rights to access and erase data, and breach reporting. Non-compliance can result in fines up to 4% of global annual revenue or €20 million, whichever is higher.
• CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act). Like GDPR, CCPA grants California consumers significant rights regarding their personal information, including the right to know what data is collected, the right to opt out of data sales, and the right to request deletion. While the penalties are not as steep as GDPR, the reputational damage and legal costs can still be substantial.

Complying with these privacy regulations is not just a legal obligation. It’s also a way to build trust by demonstrating a strong commitment to protecting customer data and respecting their privacy.

How NordLayer can help protect your eCommerce store

Securing your e-store requires more than just the basics—it demands a resilient, adaptable cybersecurity infrastructure. NordLayer delivers advanced eCommerce cybersecurity solutions designed for comprehensive, layered protection.

NordLayer can fortify your online store by:

• Securing remote access: NordLayer ensures encrypted, authenticated connections for employees and admins accessing your e-store backend via NordLayer’s infrastructure, protecting sensitive systems from unauthorized entry. Bonus? It simplifies IP whitelisting: instead of managing multiple external IPs, you can grant access by creating a NordLayer user account—quick, secure, and configuration-free.
• Implementing Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA): Built on the principle of “never trust, always verify,” NordLayer authenticates and authorizes every user and device before granting access to your internal business systems via the NordLayer network. This granular control reduces your attack surface and defends against insider threats and credential compromise.
• Providing Firewall-as-a-Service (FWaaS) capabilities: NordLayer’s Cloud Firewall filters malicious traffic, targeting the secure gateways to access internal business systems. This adds a powerful layer of defense against DDoS attacks and exploitation attempts on those access points (note: not the public-facing eCommerce website).
• Enhancing data security: By encrypting network traffic between users connected to NordLayer and your internal applications or cloud resources, NordLayer keeps sensitive business data confidential and safe from interception, complementing, not replacing, existing SSL protections on your e-commerce site.
• Simplifying security compliance: With built-in security measures for access control and data protection, NordLayer helps eCommerce businesses meet regulations like GDPR and PCI DSS with less complexity.
• Reducing malware risks: NordLayer’s malware detection reduces the risk of malware infections, protecting your internal systems and customer data.

Take control of your eCommerce security and compliance with NordLayer. Build trust, reduce risks, and let your customers shop with confidence.

Even the most secure perimeter means little once an attacker is inside. That’s where lateral movement begins, and understanding how to prevent lateral movement is a must.

While phishing attacks and endpoint breaches dominate headlines, it’s the post-intrusion maneuvering—when threat actors quietly escalate privileges, pivot across systems, and harvest credentials—that often determines the true impact of a breach.

Lateral movement definition

Lateral movement refers to the techniques cyber attackers use after initial compromise to move deeper within a network, often with the goal of gaining access to high-value systems or data. Rather than striking immediately, bad actors exploit internal tools, credentials, and trust relationships to move stealthily between endpoints—avoiding detection while gaining more access and control.

This phase of a cyber-attack is especially dangerous because it unfolds inside the network perimeter, where traditional defenses like firewalls and antivirus solutions offer limited visibility. Detecting lateral movement often requires a combination of behavioral analytics, access control enforcement, and visibility into how users and systems interact—especially around privileged accounts and critical assets like the domain controller.

The attack chain: how lateral movement typically unfolds

Lateral movement attacks don’t happen in a single step—they unfold over a series of calculated moves designed to escalate access and maintain stealth. Here are the stages of lateral movement:

Stage 1: Initial access

The attacker breaches the perimeter through methods like phishing attacks, exploiting remote services (e.g., RDP or VPN), or targeting unpatched vulnerabilities. Once inside, attackers establish a foothold but remain limited in scope—often landing on a low-privilege endpoint.

Common techniques: Phishing, brute-force attacks, vulnerable public-facing apps
Defensive response: Multi-factor authentication, endpoint detection, access control policies

Stage 2: Reconnaissance and enumeration

With a foothold established, the attacker begins mapping the internal environment. They collect information about user accounts, system architecture, network shares, and potential targets such as the domain controller or privileged accounts.

Common techniques: Netstat, PowerShell scripts, built-in OS tools
Defensive response: Least privilege enforcement, intrusion detection systems, user behaviour analytics

Stage 3: Credential dumping and privilege escalation

To move further, malicious actors seek elevated access. They use tools to dump credentials, exploit privilege escalation vulnerabilities, or abuse poorly protected password management systems to access accounts.

Common techniques: Mimikatz, token manipulation, credential reuse
Defensive response: Endpoint detection, password management best practices, privilege segmentation

Stage 4: Lateral movement

Now armed with valid credentials and internal knowledge, the cybercriminal begins accessing various systems in the network. They use lateral movement techniques, such as exploiting SMB, WMI, or remote desktop protocol (RDP) to access additional machines and data.

Common techniques: Pass-the-Hash, Pass-the-Ticket, WMI, RDP, PsExec
Defensive response: Network segmentation, monitor remote services, restrict internal movement with Zero Trust solutions

Stage 5: Target acquisition and impact

The final goal is usually exfiltration, encryption, or business disruption. The attacker reaches high-value assets (e.g., network controller, file servers, customer databases), and carries out their objective—often undetected if lateral movement hasn’t been flagged.

Common techniques: Data exfiltration, ransomware deployment, system sabotage
Defensive response: Threat detection via machine learning, monitoring of unusual activity, real-time response

Key techniques attackers use for lateral movement

Once inside a network, bad actors rely on various lateral movement techniques to gain higher-level access and quietly move between systems. These methods often abuse legitimate tools and protocols, making them difficult to detect:

• Pass-the-Hash (PtH): Reuses hashed credentials captured from memory to authenticate on other systems without needing plaintext passwords.
• Pass-the-Ticket (PtT): Relies on Kerberos tickets (TGTs or service tickets) to access services across the domain.
• Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP): Uses remote services to gain access to other machines via legitimate remote desktop functionality.
• Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI): Executes commands and scripts remotely, often without triggering alerts.
• PsExec: Runs processes on remote systems—commonly abused for executing commands across hosts.
• Credential dumping: Extracts credentials stored in memory or the registry using tools like Mimikatz.
• Shared network access abuse: Moves through shared drives, mapped folders, or misconfigured file shares.
• Token impersonation: Hijacks access tokens to impersonate users—especially high-privilege accounts.
• Internal spear phishing: Sends malicious content to users within the network to steal further credentials or plant malware.
• Exploitation of poor password hygiene: Takes advantage of reused or weak credentials, especially when password management practices are lacking.

Real-world example: SolarWinds attack (2020)

One of the most devastating lateral movement attacks to date occurred during the SolarWinds supply chain breach. After compromising the Orion software update mechanism, cybercriminals gained initial access to multiple US government and enterprise networks.

Once inside, they used credential dumping, token impersonation, and customized lateral movement techniques to silently traverse systems for months—targeting domain controllers and cloud environments.

• Estimated impact: ~18,000 organizations received the malicious update
• Dwell time: Up to 9 months undetected
• Threat group: APT29 (Cozy Bear), linked to Russian intelligence

How to detect lateral movement

Detecting lateral movement is particularly difficult because attackers often mimic legitimate user behavior and exploit trusted internal systems. However, several strategies and technologies can help expose suspicious activity before it leads to a full-blown compromise:

• Behavioral analytics: One of the most effective ways to detect lateral movement is to analyze user behavior over time to identify sudden deviations—like a user accessing unfamiliar systems or logging in at odd hours—that may signal compromise.
• Endpoint monitoring: Deploy Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) tools to track processes, login attempts, and access to sensitive assets. Watch for signs of credential dumping or remote command execution.
• Unusual access patterns: Monitor for activity that falls outside normal user roles or workflows— such as PsExec or RDP use between endpoints that don’t typically communicate.
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA) alerts: Watch for failed or bypassed MFA attempts, which can serve as early indicators of a lateral movement attack in progress.
• Threat detection systems: Use machine learning-based threat detection to flag low-and-slow attacks that traditional defenses might miss. These systems can correlate subtle anomalies across the network to detect lateral movement.
• Audit privileged account usage: Closely monitor high-level accounts for unusual activity, especially after initial compromise. Lateral movement often involves attackers attempting to escalate their own privileges and abuse these accounts.
• Track remote service usage: Investigate unexpected or unauthorized use of internal remote services, which can be leveraged to pivot across systems.
• Shrink the attack surface: While not a detection method in itself, limiting lateral access through segmentation and access control boosts visibility and raises red flags when violations occur.

Steps to preventing lateral movement

1. Segment and isolate the network

Flat networks make lateral movement easy. Implement internal segmentation to limit access between departments, teams, and resources. Isolate sensitive assets—like network controllers and critical servers—within protected zones that can only be accessed under strict conditions. Technologies like software-defined perimeters and microsegmentation can help reduce exposure and enforce contextual access boundaries.

2. Enforce least privilege access

Users should only have access to the systems and data they absolutely need. Overprivileged accounts are a key enabler of lateral movement. Apply the principle of least privilege (PoLP) across all identities—users, admins, and services—and ensure privileges are continuously reviewed and revoked when no longer needed.

3. Monitor identity and access

Track who is accessing what, from where, and when. Continuous monitoring of identity and access helps surface abnormal behavior—like a standard user accessing sensitive systems or credentials being used in new geographies. Integrate single sign-on (SSO), strong password policies, and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to maintain visibility and reduce risk, and align with network monitoring best practices.

4. Detect and respond in real-time

Lateral movement is often subtle and slow. Use detection tools that combine behavior analysis, anomaly detection, and response automation to spot threats before they escalate. Visibility across endpoints and cloud services is essential to correlate signals and trigger rapid remediation actions.

5. Implement Zero Trust architecture

Adopting a Zero Trust approach ensures no user or device is inherently trusted—even inside the network. Authenticate every session, verify device posture, and validate contextual risk before granting access. This architecture effectively disrupts lateral movement paths by requiring continuous verification.

NordLayer’s role in lateral movement defense

Preventing lateral movement requires more than visibility—it demands control over how users interact with your network from the inside out. NordLayer is designed to give IT teams that control, combining intelligent access policies with modern network architecture to block lateral paths and contain threats before they escalate.

A key part of this strategy is segmentation. With NordLayer’s network segmentation tools, organizations can create secure, logically separated environments that limit movement between users, departments, and critical infrastructure. Whether your team is fully remote, hybrid, or distributed across multiple locations, segmentation ensures attackers can’t freely pivot once inside.

Identity and access management is just as essential. NordLayer supports granular access controls and SSO integration, allowing administrators to define exactly who can reach what—and under which conditions. This level of control makes it easier to flag anomalies, shut down credential abuse, and enforce least-privilege policies across the board.

At the core of NordLayer’s approach is Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), which eliminates the assumption that anything inside your network should be trusted by default. Every user, device, and request is authenticated continuously, with access granted only if context, location, and risk level align. This disrupts the internal freedom lateral movement attacks rely on—stopping threats at the access point, even after initial compromise.

For organizations, the stakes are high: lateral movement attacks don’t just steal data—they threaten operations, reputation, and compliance. NordLayer empowers IT leaders, CISOs, and security architects to go beyond detection and actively architect environments that are resilient by design. When attackers can’t move freely, they can’t succeed—and that’s where NordLayer gives you the edge.

Contact sales to see how NordLayer can help your organization.