Opinions about Store Manager program for PC?

[ShopVille]

Hello,

I've searched the forums for this but any thread talking about this is unanswered and closed.

I was looking for a Zen Cart + Quickbooks solution that would work with the version of quickbooks in my country.

I came across a PC tool called "ZenCart Manager" (they also have it for all other popular carts) i tried their demo and seems to work great and it is packed with a lot of great features, can anyone recommend it? the company is based in ukraine.... will they have access to all my store data? is there a reason to worry about that?

i appreciate your responses

[RodG]

I've searched the forums for this but any thread talking about this is unanswered and closed.

Probably because its a commercial mod.

the company is based in ukraine....

Personally, I don't see this as relevant/important.

will they have access to all my store data?

Possibly. (it's impossible to say for sure without looking at the code)

is there a reason to worry about that?

That depends on:
1. What data they have access too
2. What they do with that data
3. How much value *you* place on that data.

Simply put, you are asking us questions that we simply aren't in a position to answer.

If you are wondering if there are any known risks associated with using this software then I'd suggest a Google search for the company/product would be much more productive that trying to find an answer here, simply because of the much larger userbase (you'll get reports about the company/products from their users of the other shopping carts, as well as us Zenners).

If you want my personal opinion as to whether you have anything to worry about by using this software, I'd say probably not (they stand to make more money by selling a legitimate/safe product than creating this software for any nefarious purposes). I'd suggest that the biggest risk is the possibility of a bug in the software that manages to corrupt your database. This risk is no greater (or less) than any other software that manipulates the database though.

Cheers
Rod

[ShopVille]

Thanks,

I wanted to reach out if there's anyone on the forum actually using the software

[ideasgirl]

This software is like any other software you install in your computer. The company doesn't have access to your store data, neither to your computer data. The software in your computer will access your store data very similar in the way your ftp does.

[RodG]

This software is like any other software you install in your computer. The company doesn't have access to your store data, neither to your computer data.

You poor naive thing. :)

The software in your computer will access your store data very similar in the way your ftp does.

Over insecure port and in plain text you mean? (that's what FTP does).

Sorry, I don't like to be a scaremonger, but I do think you should open your eyes a little. It is your kind of thinking that caused security consultants to recommend that a 'firewall' be installed on home computers. It isn't to protect your computer from the big-bad-world, it is to prevent your computer from being used to leak data and/or exploit other systems.

Having said that, even these host based firewalls won't prevent data leakage and/or exploits that use the well known & open ports (such as FTP, HTTP, HTTPS, etc).

As I say, I don't wish to be a scaremonger, but to state that "This software is like any other software you install in your computer. The company doesn't have access to your store data, neither to your computer data" really is incorrect and naive.

Fortunately there are a lot of 'untrusting' people such as myself in the world that I doubt that there is any software in common use that hasn't been inspected/tested and monitored for nefarious activity (such as sending unauthorised data to the developers, or other 3rd party) and if/when found it gets reported and removed from public distribution. As such, for the most part most of us don't have to worry about this situation, provided we stick with 'popular' software rather than software from an unknown source that promises to fix your registry and clean up the malware infections that you probably don't have in the first place.

In short. Be careful. ANY software installed on ANY computer has the *potential* to steal any and all of your data and send it to wherever they like.

Cheers
Rod.

Ps. This response is made in the interests of public safety. I am not singling you out in way of personal criticism. I mean no offence by suggesting that you are being naive.

[ideasgirl]

Rod G,

Sorry but I NEVER implied that it wasn't possible to hack your computer or your store, I said that it was like any other software. Every software you install in your computer is a hazard and is your decision to take it or not. Many think that with firewalls they are in safe-heaven, they aren't. Any person can hack your computer, can access your data, can hack your store; any server, any computer, any OS. It's just a matter of determination and/or time. None of those things (firewalls, etc) will matter if the US government wants to access your computer or any company in the world.

MS even puts a backdoor in every computer is installed, oh well! There's no privacy nowadays... We can't be paranoid in the days of "TECHNOLOGY/INFORMATION". If you don't want your data be accessed by anyone, put it in your brain, but even there is not safe since there are ways to get to it even if you don't want to share it.

I'm not naive, I just answered the OP the question. I don't believe the program was designed to hack into your computer's data, it was designed to solve a problem. Can it be done? Maybe, does it do what it was designed to do? yes. You decide if you want to take the risk in balance of your problem solving. Of course if you put in practice certain "security" measures, the experience will be even better.

P.S.: I'm not programmer, I'm not IT consultant, I'm not systems engineer, I'm not a hacker, but I do know common sense.