Your best bet, when it comes to web form security, is to use a webform builder and web form service that is reputable and that puts security above all else. Think of it this way, if you were looking for advice on how to secure your car, then consider how easy it is to secure a tank when compared to half-dismantled van. If you start with a strong web form service to begin with, then most of the security work is done for you. For example, the web forms services on this website are built from secure, well coded platforms, and they use bank level encryption. If you only opt for free services and freemium plugins for your web forms, then don’t be surprised if your web form security is a little lacking.
You Are The Website Host
This article is assuming you are the website host and you are looking to secure your web forms. You don’t want hackers uncovering the information your customers send to you, and you don’t want your form to be attacked and/or broken down by spam bots. As the website host, here are a few best practices for your web form security.
Password Protection
Yes, you have heard this advice nine million times and you are sick of it, but this piece of simple advice is probably the most ignored piece of advice on the Internet. The “Fappening” was a massive data leak that exposed hundreds of celebrities private files, videos and photos. And, though the media narrative is that these accounts were hacked, it was simply a case of taking their social media names or their email addresses and testing them with the most common passwords. In some cases, the baseline passwords hadn’t even been changed.
Add large and complex passwords, change them every 72 days, change them whenever a staff member stops using your web form tools, and write them down on a piece of paper rather than saving them into your systems or your phones. The easiest way to get into somebody’s web forms tools is to try out the first/base/non-passwords, and then work through the alphabet. Don’t make it “This” easy for the hackers.
Secure Data Storage
You need access to the information being stored, so it is probably going to find its way through your cloud services, your admin systems, your email responders and so forth. Yet, these are all prime areas for data loss and security breaches. Try to pass the information through as few services as possible, make sure the information is stored safely, and ask yourself how much information needs to be passed during each working process. Does the password reset service need to pull up all the user’s information before it sends a password reset link, or could most of the user’s data stay locked up safely?
Control and Validate User Input
One could write a book on how to stop spammers, but even if you are guarding against spammers, you should also be guarding against bad information. Services that do not offer input validation are leaving you open to security breaches. It is not that difficult to create clone accounts and then fool your support staff into handing out the wrong information. Most of this can be avoided if you correctly control what your users are submitting via your forms.
Encryption and Malware Protection
Your web browser should be encrypted with SSL, and the services you are using should be encrypting the information as it is entered and as it travels over the Internet. In addition, try to secure your website with a malware protection service, and consult them on how you may further secure your web forms for both your protection and the protection of your user’s inputted data.
