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Since the announcement of Magento 1 EOL, which specifically means that Adobe owned Magento won’t provide any quality or security patches. Also, the technical support would cease to exist for all Magento 1.X commerce and open source editions. Any Magento 1 merchant by now knows this. But did you know that your Magento 1 store may lose the ability to take and process payments after June 2020?
Even the third-party payment processors like PayPal requires you to be compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards. All the major card processor entities have outlined these standards and guidelines that apply to all the online merchants worldwide. And for the same reason, PayPal made a startling announcement for merchants still using the Magento 1.X platform.
We know you have lots of questions in your mind, so here is what you can expect from this article.
- Recap of the PayPal’s Magento 1.X EOL Announcement
- What is PCI DSS Standards?
- Why PCI DSS Matter for Magento 1 EOL?
- What Happens to the Non-compliant Merchants Using Magento 1.X?
- End of Support from PayPal after Magento 1.X EOL
- Warnings from Other Payment Processors
- Risks Involved in Staying with Magento 1.X
- Solution: Plan of Action
- Why Migration to Magento 2?
So, now let’s move further and explore these points one by one.
Recap of the PayPal’s Magento 1.X EOL Announcement
PayPal suggested Magento 1.X merchants should migrate to Magento 2 as early as possible. And if they fail to do so, they have to pay the price. PayPal also listed the risks and consequences of staying with the platform once the EOL date is reached.
It also sent an email to Magento 1.X merchants about the implications of staying with the platform after the EOL date. The mail went on to say action required by the merchants to stay out of risks and comply with PCI DSS guidelines.
What is PCI DSS Standards?
First, let’s understand what PCI DSS is and how they affect you. PCI DSS are norms set by major payment processors, which intends to secure transaction against any theft or fraud while using credit or debit cards. It helps secure the sensitive data of cardholders to maintain a relationship with them.
Why PCI DSS Matter for Magento 1 EOL?
As per the requirement 6.2 of PCI DSS standards, the merchants are required to install vendor-supplied security or quality patches within one month of its release.
“6.2: Protect all system components and software from known vulnerabilities by installing applicable vendor-supplied security patches. Install critical security patches within one month of release.”
And due to Magento is ending the support for Magento 1 after June, your site would fail to comply with PCI DSS standards. Also, it’s a breach of a contract you have signed with your payment providers like PayPal to stay compliant with PCI DSS.
The PCI DSS Council requires payment processors to verify your PCI compliance at regular intervals. Failing to do so, will give the Council the power to fine the payment providers or may suspend their operations. This is why it matters so much even for PayPal and Visa to ensure that your website is PCI DSS compliant.
What Happens to the Non-compliant Merchants Using Magento 1.X?
Failing to comply with PCI DSS standards means, your unsupported system is a welcome latter for hackers. They can breach and loot the credit card information of thousands of customers in a matter of time.
PCI DSS non-compliance can attract heavy fines ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 per month, or even more in some cases, to payment processors. And web stores running on Magento 1.X will be in the center once the End of Life happens.
These web store owners like you may have to pay the customer the bank reversal charge in the event of the data breach. This charge depends upon how large the customer database is compromised. They may even face lawsuits from customers since they have failed to comply with PCI DSS standards, which resulted in the data breach.
The large organization that failed to comply with PCI DSS may face FTC audits from Governments, which is not a great thing for anyone. Because no one wants Government lurking on their shoulders.
End of Support from PayPal after Magento 1.X EOL
PayPal in its announcement hasn’t specified when they will end support for the Magento 1.X platform. But it’s highly likely to happen anytime soon.
PayPal is one of the leading fast and secure payment providers worldwide. And more than 50% of the Magento stores use PayPal to process payment. PCI DSS is not only specific to Magento 1.X users, it applies to all online platforms and payment processors. Therefore, PayPal cannot make Magento 1.X an exception and support even after EOL, which might negatively affect PayPal’s reputation. So, they have to take the necessary step sooner or later.
And if the PayPal ends support for the older Magento store, the results would be catastrophic. Therefore, PayPal along with Magento and other processors warned Magento 1.X merchant to migrate to Magento 2 as early as possible.
If they fail to do so in time, then they will fall out of PCI DSS compliance and PayPal won’t be able to process the payment requests resulting in cart abandonment. If merchants replace the PayPal method, then their shoppers won’t have a reliable option to make payments and leaves the store anyway.
Warnings from Other Payment Processors
Along with PayPal many other Payment processors gave warnings to Magento 1.X retailers as well. And one of them is Visa and Mastercard. Visa highlighted the need for the hour once Magento pulls the plug on Magento 1 platform.
Also read: Visa, Master Card & Adobe Urges Merchants to Migrate to Magento 2.x
It has advised the merchant to understand their responsibility to prevent any data loss from happening after June 2020. It also, illustrated the consequences if merchants do not migrate as listed below.
Risks Involved in Staying with Magento 1.X
After the official end of support for Magento 1.X, the platform will start to degrade over time. The traffic will significantly decrease affecting the revenue of the store. The data breach is one great threat in this digital world and organizations like Magecart work to breach and hack the older version eCommerce platform through any vulnerability they can find.
This could happen because there won’t be any official bug fixing solutions provided by Magento. And even if someone provides the bug fixes and patches, the charges for the same will be too high. Along with those, many other things could ruin your store if you continue to use Magento 1.X after June 2020.
Given the timeline and number of Magento 1 stores, which is still very high in number, there will be many Magento 1 store owners who decide to stick with it. And for those, many companies have come forward to provide patching solutions and advanced secure hosting plans. But would they be legitimate? Because the main condition of the PCI DSS is installing the vendor-supplied patches, which for this case, is Adobe owned Magento. So, installing patches or adopting advanced secure hosting, which is hard to hack, still does not satisfy the PCI standards.
But what’s the solution?
Solution: Plan of Action
PayPal statement had already told Magento 1 merchant to migrate to Magento 2. This is the most easiest and effective plan of action all the Magento 1 store owners should adopt. Migrating to Magento 2 will not only make your store comply with PCI DSS standards but bring in new features and functions that enhance the overall store performance.
Why Migration to Magento 2?
This is the right time for you to explore new things with well-structured and performance beast Magento 2 for futuristic webstore to stay ahead in the competition. Magento 2 offers many enhanced features over its predecessor. And we have compiled a list of at least 16 reasons for you that clear the air about why you should migrate to Magento 2.
While deciding to migrate from Magento 1 is tough yet it’s necessary because, with Magento 1, your store does not have any future now. We say this because if you continue to use Magento 1 even after June 2020, your store would work fine for the next few months but after a year it would come crashing down. Few years down the line, the platform would cease to exist and all the developers would refuse to even touch your store.
So, it is wise for you to invest a little amount of time with the expected cost of migrating to Magento 2. Because PCI compliance is a big concern for any eCommerce store. And payment providers like PayPal and Visa have already stressed their concerns over the EOL of Magento 1 and potential security breaches that could happen due to that. So, the only way to avoid getting into this situation is by Magento 2 Migration.
