Top 5 Security Features for Online Web Forms

Ensuring the security of online web forms not only protects sensitive user data but also maintains the integrity of your website. Just how important is web form security? IT professionals understand that web forms are often the first point of contact between a user and a website, making them prime targets for attacks. Web form security prevents common vulnerabilities like SQL injection, cross–site scripting (XSS), and other attack vectors. Knowing the right web form strategies and tools can make a substantial difference in an organization’s ability to protect its sensitive content submitted. 

In this guide we’ll explore five critical security measures for defending online web forms. We’ll discuss their importance and implementation, as well as recommend best practices for safeguarding sensitive information submitted to web forms.

Why Web Form Security Matters

Web forms have become indispensable for businesses. They serve as vital tools for collecting information, whether it’s customer feedback, lead generation details, or sensitive financial data. The convenience of collecting data online, however, comes with the inherent risk of exposing that data to malicious actors. Unauthorized access, data breaches, and cyberattacks can all stem from vulnerabilities in web form security.

Consider, for instance, SQL Injection, a prevalent attack where hackers insert malicious SQL code through form inputs to exploit your database. Another common threat is cross–site scripting (XSS), where malicious scripts are injected into trusted websites to steal data or hijack user sessions.

The compromise of form data doesn’t end there; even seemingly innocuous information like email addresses and phone numbers can be weaponized for phishing scams and identity theft. In another instance, the exposure of employee data can lead to severe privacy breaches, causing mistrust within your workforce.

Financial and personal repercussions aside, data breaches often result in legal ramifications, including hefty fines and regulatory penalties, especially with stringent laws like GDPR.

Given these risks, employing top security features for web forms is non–negotiable.

Looking for ways to secure your web forms? Check out our best practices for web form security in: Protecting PII in Online Web Forms.

How to Check if Your Web Form is Secure

How do you know if your web form is secure? It’s a valid question. There are a few checks you can perform to gauge if your web form is secure. First, verify that the form operates over HTTPS to encrypt data during transmission, preventing interception by malicious actors.

Next, check to see if CAPTCHAs are incorporated. CAPTCHAs thwart automated bots that could potentially exploit your form. Implement robust input validation to sanitize user-entered data and prevent common attacks such as SQL injection or cross-site scripting (XSS).

Additionally, check to see if your organization regularly updates its security measures to address emerging threats. They should be conducting thorough vulnerability assessments that can significantly enhance the overall protection of information uploaded to web forms. These proactive steps collectively help maintain a high level of security for the data submitted through your forms.

Top 5 Security Features Every Online Web Form Needs

With the risks and ramifications of using unsecure web forms well established, let’s take a look at five critical security requirements every online web form must have in order to protect PII and PHI, demonstrate regulatory compliance with data privacy regulations, and build and maintain customer and employee trust.

1. Input Validation and Sanitization

Input validation is one of the fundamental security measures for protecting web forms. By validating user inputs, you ensure that only properly formatted data enters your system. This is crucial in defending against attacks such as SQL injection, cross–site scripting (XSS), and more. Input validation checks that the data meets certain criteria before processing it, thereby reducing the risk of malicious code being executed on your server.

Robust input validation mechanisms ensure that every input field is scrutinized for format, length, and acceptable characters can mitigate the risk of unauthorized access and data manipulation.

Sanitization, by contrast, is the process of cleaning and filtering user inputs to remove any potentially harmful code or characters. While validation ensures that inputs meet the expected criteria, sanitization takes it a step further by stripping out any unwanted content. This dual approach is part of best practices for web form security, significantly lowering the chances of successful injection attacks.

Effective sanitization involves encoding output, using built–in functions to clean input data, and implementing whitelisting techniques to specify permissible values. Regularly updating your sanitization methods according to the latest security trends is vital in maintaining robust online form security.

2. CAPTCHA Systems

CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) systems are an essential tool in the arsenal of online form security tools. They help distinguish between human users and automated bots, preventing spam and automated attacks on your web forms. Implementing CAPTCHA systems effectively reduces the risk of bot–driven attacks, safeguarding your website from abuse and potential breaches.

Several types of CAPTCHA systems are available, each offering varying levels of security and user experience. The most common types include text–based CAPTCHAs, image–based CAPTCHAs, and audio CAPTCHAs. By requiring users to complete these tests before form submission, you can significantly enhance the security of your web forms.

While CAPTCHA systems are powerful tools, they must be implemented thoughtfully to balance security and user experience. Overly complicated CAPTCHAs can frustrate legitimate users, leading to a poor user experience and potential drop–offs. Therefore, it is crucial to choose a CAPTCHA that is both secure and user–friendly.

When implementing CAPTCHA for web form security, consider leveraging modern, adaptive CAPTCHA systems that adjust difficulty based on the user’s behavior. Google’s reCAPTCHA, for example, is widely used because it offers a seamless experience for most users while effectively blocking suspicious activities. Always ensure your CAPTCHA solutions are up–to–date and configured to address current security threats.

3. Secure Data Transmission

Encrypting data transmitted between the user and the server ensures that sensitive information, such as login credentials and personal details, is protected from interception during transit. This practice plays a significant role in safeguarding sensitive content against man–in–the–middle attacks and other cyber threats.

Using protocols like HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure) is a standard best practice for web form security. HTTPS employs SSL/TLS encryption to shield data, providing an additional layer of security. By ensuring that all data transmitted via your web forms is encrypted, you can prevent unauthorized parties from accessing or tampering with it, thereby maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of the information.

Transitioning your website to HTTPS is a critical step in enhancing web form security. To implement HTTPS, you need to obtain an SSL/TLS certificate from a trusted certificate authority. Once installed on your server, this certificate encrypts all data exchanged between the user’s browser and your website, thereby securing online forms from potential threats.

Regularly updating your SSL/TLS certificates and employing the latest cryptographic protocols are best practices for web form security. Additionally, configuring your server to use strong cipher suites and enabling features like HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) can further strengthen your defense against online threats.

4. Anti–CSRF Tokens

Cross–site request forgery (CSRF) is a malicious exploit where unauthorized commands are transmitted from a user that the web application trusts. These attacks can compromise the security of online forms by tricking users into performing unwanted actions, such as changing account details or conducting transactions without their knowledge. Preventing CSRF attacks is vital in safeguarding web forms and the sensitive PII and PHI they collect.

These tokens work by generating unique, unpredictable values for each session or form submission, ensuring that any attempt to forge a request will fail. This additional layer of security helps to verify the authenticity of user actions, thereby preventing CSRF attacks from succeeding.

To implement anti–CSRF tokens effectively, include a hidden input field in your web forms that contains the unique token value. This token should be generated for each session or form instance and must be validated by the server upon form submission. If the token is missing or invalid, the server should reject the request, thereby thwarting potential CSRF attacks.

Utilizing frameworks and libraries that provide built–in support for anti–CSRF tokens can simplify implementation. For instance, many modern web development frameworks offer middleware or helper functions to generate and validate CSRF tokens automatically. Regularly updating these frameworks and libraries, along with conducting security reviews, are best practices for web form security, ensuring your defenses remain robust against evolving threats.

5. Access Controls

Access controls are crucial in defining who can access and modify your web forms. Role–based access control (RBAC) is a powerful strategy that restricts access based on the users’ roles within the organization. By assigning specific permissions to different roles, you can ensure that only authorized individuals have the necessary access to modify form configurations or view sensitive data.

RBAC enhances web form security by limiting the attack surface and minimizing the risk of insider threats. It ensures that users only have access to the functionalities required for their role, reducing the potential for unauthorized access and data breaches. Regularly reviewing and updating user roles and permissions is critical for maintaining secure online forms.

In addition to RBAC, implementing granular access controls allows for more precise management of user permissions. This approach involves defining access policies at a granular level, specifying who can view, edit, or delete individual form fields or submissions. Granular access controls offer greater flexibility and security, ensuring that sensitive information is only accessible to those with the appropriate clearance.

Adopting a combination of RBAC and granular access controls is recommended for comprehensive web form security. Utilizing access control frameworks and regularly auditing access logs ensure that access policies are enforced effectively and help identify any unauthorized access attempts, enabling prompt response to potential security incidents.

Kiteworks Helps Organizations Protect Their Content With Secure Web Forms

Securing online web forms is an essential component of protecting user data and maintaining website integrity. By implementing these web form security features and adhering to industry best practices, you’ll create a secure and trustworthy user experience, safeguard sensitive user information, ensure regulatory compliance, and build trust with your users.

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.

Kiteworks’ secure web forms protects the PII, PHI, and other sensitive content customers, partners, and other stakeholders provide organizations. Once this sensitive data is submitted, it is imported into the Kiteworks system and securely stored within your organization (Kiteworks does not have access to any of your content). With secure web forms, you set your own security and governance policies. In addition, all form submissions are logged so you can track them in the Kiteworks CISO Dashboard to see where the data is stored, who accesses it and with whom do they share it. This visibility lets you demonstrate compliance with data privacy regulations, investigate anomalous behavior, and respond to eDisovery requests.

And Kiteworks’ secure web forms are easy to use. Users can create custom forms with a wide range of item types, including text fields, drop–down selections, checkboxes, and more. The forms can be embedded into existing websites, allowing users to capture information quickly and securely from third–party sources that have no access to the Kiteworks system.

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, PCI, Cyber Essentials Plus, IRAP, and many more.

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

Additional Resources

• Video Kiteworks Snackable Bytes: Web Forms
• Blog Post Best Practices for Web Form Security
• Blog Post How to Create GDPR-compliant Forms
• Guide How to Securely Share Files
• Blog Post Secure File Sharing and Storage: A Comprehensive Guide