Regularly conducting penetration tests on e-commerce websites is an important part of maintaining security, supporting reliable site performance, and protecting the company’s reputation. Given the range of potential risks, businesses need to set clear priorities and choose the right mix of approaches, whether that means manual testing, automated vulnerability scanning, or newer options such as pentesting AI used alongside established security practices.
Security priorities for e-commerce website pentests
Below is a summary of the main security concerns for e-commerce websites. Priorities should be defined based on the specific functional and technical context of each platform, forming the first step in scoping the pentest.
Payment security
This is a critical area that must rely on a recognised, PCI DSS-certified solution. The integration between the payment solution and the e-commerce platform should be tested to prevent breaches, particularly around the collection of banking data, ensuring it complies with the publisher’s documentation (forms, encryption, etc.).
Customer journey security
The entire customer journey — from order validation to delivery confirmation — should be tested regularly to guard against fraud. This includes identifying both technical flaws (OWASP) and logical flaws, such as ways to bypass the website’s intended functional logic.
Personal data security
Since GDPR, this has become a critical area to test. Even without banking data, a leak of personal information (name, email address, etc.) can expose users and damage trust in the platform. In e-commerce, order data confidentiality (who buys what?) is also sensitive. Injection flaws are the most common way to access a database, but other vulnerabilities — such as infrastructure misconfiguration or the use of vulnerable components — should also be considered.
Catalogue integrity
Attacks that corrupt or delete catalogue data can lead to significant losses. Potential vulnerabilities include injections, server misconfiguration, and unauthorised back-office access.
Service continuity
The higher a website’s revenue, the greater the impact of any downtime — especially during peak periods like Christmas or Black Friday. DoS vulnerabilities should be tested on both the server and application sides.
Traffic diversion
Attacks that redirect users to malicious clone sites are harmful to both the business and its customers. Testing should cover website vulnerabilities (e.g. XSS) and users should be made aware of social engineering risks, such as checking domain names carefully.
Related security concerns
The connections between the e-commerce platform and logistics systems should also be tested. A poorly secured e-commerce platform can serve as an entry point into other parts of a company’s IT infrastructure.
Additional entry points
Beyond the main website, other applications can provide attackers with entry points: management back-offices, partner access, APIs, and public staging platforms. The more secure the main site, the more likely attackers will target these secondary applications.
Other considerations before conducting an e-commerce pentest
Before diving into the technical aspects of a pentest, there are a few additional factors to keep in mind that can significantly impact the scope and effectiveness of your assessment.
Framework or CMS-based websites
For websites built on solutions like Magento or PrestaShop, it’s especially important to review the solution’s configuration, plugin choices, updates, and any custom developments.
Large e-commerce website portfolios
To manage security risks across a large number of sites without exceeding budget, consider these approaches:
- Run automated first-level scans across the entire scope.
- Conduct thorough penetration tests on a representative sample.
We strongly recommend testing a technically representative sample of sites to cover risks across a reduced scope, combined with first-level tests across the full portfolio.
