How to Achieve PCI Compliance With Secure Web Forms

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance is essential for all businesses that accept, process, or store payment card information. PCI DSS provides a robust framework designed to protect cardholder data and maintain a secure environment. Compliance is mandatory for entities that handle card transactions, from small businesses to large enterprises, ensuring that sensitive information remains protected from breaches and fraud.

In this post, we’ll explore the non-negotiable security features every online web form must have to protect cardholder data, including personally identifiable information (PII) that, if exposed, can lead to theft and identity fraud as well as fines, penalties, litigation, and loss of customer trust.

Business Benefits of Online Web Forms

Implementing online web forms offers significant advantages for businesses and their customers. By providing user-friendly and efficient mechanisms to capture credit card and other personal information, organizations can enhance the customer experience and streamline the purchasing process. However, this convenience also brings the responsibility of safeguarding the personally identifiable and protected health information (PII/PHI) and cardholder data submitted through these forms. Protecting this data is a top priority for businesses to avoid risks to their customers, including identity theft, fraud, and other malicious activities.

Businesses face substantial consequences if they fail to use secure web forms and comply with PCI DSS. These include severe non-compliance penalties, loss of customer trust, fines, and potential litigation. Ensuring the security of web forms protects both the consumer and the business, fostering a secure transaction environment.

Benefits of PCI Compliant Forms

PCI compliant forms offer a multitude of benefits for online transactions. In short, these forms are designed to meet stringent security standards, making them a vital component in protecting customers’ cardholder data and personally identifiable information (PII).

One of the primary benefits of PCI compliant forms is the enhanced security they provide. These forms employ advanced encryption methods to safeguard sensitive information, ensuring that data is transmitted securely between the customer and the server. This reduces the risk of data breaches, protecting both the business and its customers from potential cyber threats.

Another significant advantage is the reduction of fraud. A secure web form’s compliance features include robust authentication processes and vulnerability assessments, which help in identifying and mitigating fraudulent activities. By adhering to PCI standards, businesses can minimize the risk of fraudulent transactions, ensuring that customers’ cardholder data remains secure.

Basics of PCI Compliance

Achieving PCI compliance is crucial for businesses handling credit card transactions, as it ensures the protection of sensitive cardholder information. This compliance involves adhering to the stringent requirements set forth by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). The process entails a comprehensive assessment of current security measures to identify and address vulnerabilities.

Businesses must implement robust security protocols, maintain a secure network, and regularly monitor and test their systems. Continuous maintenance and documentation are also essential to ensure data integrity and prevent security breaches, ultimately safeguarding customer trust and minimizing financial risks.

How to Achieve PCI Compliance With Secure Web Forms: Key Security Features

Securing online web forms is critical for organizations to protect cardholder data and achieve PCI DSS compliance. Here are five product security features that a secure web form solution should have to protect cardholder data and adhere to PCI DSS requirements:

1. Tokenization: Tokenization replaces sensitive cardholder data with a unique identifier known as a token. This token can be used within the system without exposing the actual cardholder data. Only the tokenization system can map tokens back to the sensitive data, providing an extra layer of security.
2. Embedded Payment Gateway: Instead of processing payment data directly on the web form, an embedded payment gateway securely handles payment information. This reduces the scope of PCI DSS compliance for the organization as the sensitive cardholder data is never stored on or processed by the company’s servers.
3. Input Validation and Filtering: The web form should include robust input validation and filtering mechanisms to prevent the injection of malicious code. This feature ensures that only properly formatted data is accepted, reducing the risk of SQL injection attacks
   and cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks.
4. Secure Form Fields: Implementing secure form fields that are specifically designed to handle sensitive information. These fields ensure encryption at the point of entry and may also include features like masking input fields so the full card number isn’t visible as it is being entered.
5. Real-Time Fraud Detection: Integrating real-time fraud detection mechanisms within the web form solution helps identify and prevent fraudulent transactions. This can include machine learning algorithms, IP blacklisting, and behavioral analysis to detect anomalies and flag suspicious transactions. These product-focused security features help ensure that web forms handling cardholder data are secure and compliant with PCI DSS requirements, significantly reducing the risk of data breaches.

How to Achieve PCI Compliance With Enhanced Security Measures

The features shared above will neither protect cardholder data nor avoid costly PCI DSS compliance violations if they aren’t supported by security and compliance best practices. In other words, these security features are only as good as the processes put in place to use them. Consider the following as best practices that, when used in conjunction with a secure web form that includes the features listed above, will further help organizations protect cardholder data and demonstrate PCI DSS compliance.

Conduct Regular Security Testing

To maintain PCI compliance and the security of web forms, organizations must conduct regular security testing. This includes vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, and code reviews to identify and address potential security weaknesses. Regular testing helps to uncover potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious actors.

Automated security tools can be used to continuously monitor web forms for new vulnerabilities and provide real-time alerts. By proactively identifying and mitigating risks, organizations can prevent security incidents and maintain compliance with PCI DSS requirements.

Employ Secure Coding Practices

Ensuring the security of web forms starts at the development stage. Implementing secure coding practices is essential to minimize vulnerabilities that could be exploited by attackers. Developers should adhere to coding standards and guidelines that prioritize security, such as the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) guidelines.

Regular code reviews and static code analysis can help identify and rectify security flaws early in the development process. By embedding security into the code from the outset, organizations can significantly reduce the risk associated with web form vulnerabilities and maintain PCI compliance.

Use a Web Application Firewall

A Web Application Firewall (WAF) is a crucial component for protecting web forms from a wide range of cyber threats, including SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and other common attacks. A WAF filters and monitors HTTP traffic between a web application and the Internet, providing an additional layer of security.

Implementing a robust WAF helps to block malicious traffic and attacks before they reach the web forms, ensuring that sensitive cardholder data is protected. WAFs can be configured to enforce security policies, detect anomalies, and create alerts for suspicious activities, contributing to the overall security and PCI compliance of web forms.

Embrace Secure Development Lifecycle (SDLC)

Integrating security into every phase of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) is essential for building and maintaining secure web forms. This includes requirements gathering, design, implementation, testing, deployment, and maintenance. By incorporating security at each stage, organizations can ensure that web forms are designed and built with security in mind.

Periodic security training for developers and stakeholders is also critical to keeping the team informed about the latest security threats and best practices. A well-defined SDLC with a strong focus on security helps organizations consistently produce secure web forms that comply with PCI DSS standards.

Develop an Incident Response Plan

Having a robust incident response plan is vital for quickly addressing any security incidents involving web forms. The plan should outline the steps to be taken in the event of a data breach or security vulnerability, including identification, containment, eradication, and recovery.

Regularly testing and updating the incident response plan ensures that the organization is prepared to handle security incidents effectively. Quick and efficient incident response minimizes the impact of security breaches, protects cardholder data, and helps maintain PCI compliance.

Utilize Access Controls and Multi-Factor Authentication

Access control mechanisms are essential to ensure that only authorized personnel have access to sensitive cardholder data. Implementing robust authentication methods such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) adds an extra layer of security by requiring users to provide multiple forms of verification before accessing protected data.

Role-based access control (RBAC) further enhances security by granting permissions based on the user’s role within the organization. Access controls ensure employees can only access the data necessary for their job functions, reducing the risk of insider threats and unauthorized data access.

Practice Data Minimization

Collecting only essential information through web forms is a best practice that reduces the risk of data breaches. By minimizing the amount of sensitive data collected, organizations can limit their exposure to potential threats. Avoid requesting unnecessary personal identifiable information (PII) and cardholder data to enhance security.

Implementing data minimization practices not only complies with PCI DSS requirements but also demonstrates a commitment to protecting customer data, further building trust with consumers.

Manage User Sessions

Effective user session management is critical for maintaining the security of web forms. Implementing session timeouts and re-authentication mechanisms ensures that users’ sessions are properly managed and terminated after a period of inactivity. This reduces the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive data.

Secure session management practices, such as using secure cookies and encryption, enhance the security of web forms and contribute to PCI compliance. Regularly reviewing and updating session management policies helps maintain a high level of security.

Monitor and Log Web Form Access and Usage

Continuous monitoring and logging of web form activities are essential for detecting and responding to security incidents. Implementing robust logging mechanisms allows organizations to track access to sensitive data, identify suspicious activities, and conduct forensic analysis in the event of a security incident.

Monitoring tools can provide real-time insights into the security status of web forms and alert administrators to potential threats. Maintaining comprehensive logs and regularly reviewing them helps organizations identify patterns, detect anomalies, and ensure PCI compliance.

Conduct Compliance Audits

Regular compliance audits are necessary to ensure that web forms continue to meet PCI DSS requirements. These audits involve evaluating security controls, reviewing policies and procedures, and verifying that the organization adheres to compliance standards.

Engaging third-party auditors can provide an objective assessment of the organization’s security posture and identify areas for improvement. Consistent compliance audits help organizations stay current with PCI DSS updates and maintain a secure environment for cardholder data.

Kiteworks Secure Web Forms Help Organizations Achieve PCI Compliance

Achieving PCI compliance with secure web forms is critical for protecting cardholder data and building customer trust. By implementing key security features such as tokenization, embedded payment gateway, input validation and filtering, secure form fields, and real-time fraud detection, organizations can ensure the protection of cardholder data uploaded to online web forms in compliance with PCI DSS.

Additional measures like deploying web application firewalls, integrating security into the software development lifecycle, having an incident response plan, practicing data minimization, managing user sessions, and maintaining robust monitoring and logging are essential for a comprehensive security strategy. By adopting these and the other best practices shared, businesses can create a secure transaction environment, avoid non-compliance penalties, and enhance their reputation as a trustworthy entity.

The Kiteworks Private Content Network, a FIPS 140-2 Level validated secure file sharing and file transfer platform, consolidates email, file sharing, web forms, SFTP, managed file transfer, and next-generation digital rights management solution so organizations control, protect, and track every file as it enters and exits the organization.

The Kiteworks platform is used by organizations to help them meet a variety of compliance standards and mandates, including PCI-DSS.

FIPS 140-2 certified encryption enhances the security of the Kiteworks platform, making it suitable for organizations that handle sensitive data like payment card information. In addition, end user and administrator activity is logged and is accessible, crucial for PCI-DSS compliance, which requires tracking and monitoring of all access to network resources and cardholder data.

Kiteworks also offers different levels of access to all folders based on the permissions designated by the owner of the folder. This feature helps in implementing strong access control measures, a key requirement of PCI-DSS.

Kiteworks deployment options include on-premises, hosted, private, hybrid, and FedRAMP virtual private cloud. With Kiteworks: control access to sensitive content; protect it when it’s shared externally using automated end-to-end encryption, multi-factor authentication, and security infrastructure integrations; see, track, and report all file activity, namely who sends what to whom, when, and how. Finally demonstrate compliance with regulations and standards like GDPR, HIPAA, CMMC, Cyber Essentials Plus, IRAP, and many more.

To learn more about Kiteworks, schedule a custom demo today.

Additional Resources

• Blog Post PCI Compliant File Sharing: Essential Requirements & Effective Compliance Strategies
• Brief Empower PCI Compliance and Secure Data Management With Kiteworks
• Blog Post The 9 Critical Requirements of PCI DSS Compliance: Protecting Customers’ Sensitive Data
• Case Study Cartes Bancaires Makes It Easier for Employees, Partners, and Customers to Exchange Customer Data
• Blog Post Email & PCI Compliance: How to Avoid Costly Violations