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Case study · Cybersecurity

Online store hardened before the busy season

A retailer tested its web store like an attacker would and fixed what we found before peak trading.

  • Retail & E-commerce
  • Canada
  • 50–200 employees
Industry
Retail & E-commerce
Region
Canada
Company size
50–200 employees
Practice
Cybersecurity

The challenge

What was going wrong

The retailer's online store had grown fast through plugins, custom features and several payment and shipping connections. No one had checked how safe it all was when put together, and customer accounts held personal details.

The busiest sales period was approaching. A breach at that time would hurt trust and revenue and could trigger card brand scrutiny. The team had little security experience and needed findings explained in plain terms.

Our approach

How we worked it out

  1. 1

    Agree scope and rules

    We agreed what we would test, when, and how to avoid disrupting sales. We tested a copy of the store first, then carefully checked the live one.

  2. 2

    Test like an attacker

    We probed the store for common web flaws, weak login handling, exposed settings and risky plugin behavior, and reviewed the cloud setup behind it.

  3. 3

    Report in plain words

    We wrote up each finding with its risk, proof and a step-by-step fix, and met with the developers to walk through the most serious ones.

  4. 4

    Retest the fixes

    After the team applied fixes, we tested again to confirm each problem was truly closed and noted what to watch going forward.

What we built

The solution

  • Penetration test report

    Findings ranked by risk, each with proof and a clear fix.

  • Code and plugin review

    Risky custom code and outdated plugins were identified and corrected.

  • Cloud settings hardening

    Storage, access keys and network rules were tightened.

  • Retest confirmation

    Every fixed item was verified, with a short list of ongoing checks.

What changed

The results

  • Serious weaknesses closed

    The most dangerous flaws were fixed before the busy trading period began.

  • Developers learned the patterns

    The team now recognizes common web flaws and avoids them in new features.

  • Proof for partners

    The retailer holds a clear report to show payment partners and enterprise buyers.

Technology

What it was built with

  • Burp Suite Tests web apps and APIs for exploitable flaws.
  • OWASP ZAP Automatically scans running web apps for common vulnerabilities.
  • AWS Amazon cloud hosting and services.
  • NGINX Web server and load balancer that routes traffic reliably.
  • PHP Widely used server language for websites, portals and web apps.
  • Snyk Finds known vulnerabilities in code, packages and containers.

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