Secure Online Forms

There are many benefits of having an online form on your site:

1. The form never sleeps, even when you do.
2. It collects the exact information that is needed.
3. Information collected can be sent to you real-time via email or stored in a database for later use.
4. It saves you time as you do not have to be on the phone with a customer or website visitor writing down their information.
5. It can be versatile and take payments, surveys, allow sign-ups for newsletters or perform other functions.

However, what happens if robots and spammers also have access to those online forms? In an increasingly mobile world, cybercrime is on the rise. There is growing concern about identity theft and credit card fraud. What would happen if the forms on your website were vulnerable and couldn’t provide adequate assurance of security to your visitors?

Your visitors will not be able to trust the information you provide. They will not fill out online applications or enrollment forms. They will be extremely wary of sharing details about their credit card and social security accounts. Your online forms will not do their job efficiently if you cannot guarantee the security of your visitors’ personal information and earn their trust. This is where the need for securing online forms arises.

The following are different levels of security methods we use to secure online forms.

256-Bit SSL – Secure Socket Layer or SSL certificate ensures any data sent over an internet browser is secure.

Data Encryption – We encrypt any data stored on your database, so bots or scammers cannot access it.

PGP Email Encryption – If you use email to receive sensitive information, it is vital to use Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) encryption. PGP encrypts sensitive data from the forms to your email.

Password Protected Forms – When only certain people are meant to access a form, adding password protection ensures no one has access that is not intended to.

CAPTCHA – There is never too much protection when it comes to protecting sensitive information. CAPTCHA prevents computer bots and spammers from sending incorrect information back to your servers.

HIPPA Compliance – We comply with all HIPAA standards to ensure data is encrypted. Customers can enter healthcare data into forms without worrying who will see it.

There are many techniques to secure your online forms and make sure spam bots do not take them over and abuse them:

1. Look at the IP address on the form data to make sure it is coming from countries and locations you want.
2. Use a question easily understood by a human but not a spambot.
3. Use a Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA).
4. Use website session tokens that are needed by the form.
5. Use fields that can only be seen by spam bots and ignore the form data if they are filled in.
6. Use third-party tools and services to filter the data and remove spam from form submissions.

Building trust online is much more than having a trust-worthy brand name. There are many elements of a website and the forms on your site that contribute to online reputation and trust. These include:

Brand Consistency

Your forms should match your website colors and logo to establish brand recognition and consistency. When customers realize the website and form match, they feel safe and will be more likely to trust the site and share their sensitive data.

Privacy Policy

Having a clear privacy policy makes customers fully aware of how you intend to use their personal information. Your privacy policy should be easily accessible; making your form appear trustworthy.

Contact Information

Even though the intention of having forms on your website is to speed up service for customers and automate the process, customers still want to know they have a way of contacting the company if they need to. It is vital to have all contact information quickly available to your customers if it is not visible on the form. When customers fill out an application or form online, they are trusting you with their information. They want to know their data is safe and not going to be stolen and used for illegal purposes. They also want to know that they can reach you if their information is compromised.

Secure Payments and Browsing

Having a payment processor installed on your form and website provides customers with an easy pay option. Businesses are required to follow all Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance rules. With online transactions through mobile phones on the rise, the need for security has gone past securing payments alone. You are expected to provide a secure browsing environment with a high level of encryption to safeguard your visitors Also, it is recommended to integrate a PCI-compliant provider such as Paypal, Authorize.Net, and Stripe.

Signing Documents

Along with personal information to identify the person filling out the form, an eSignature is also helpful. This eSignature allows customers to upload their signature in their own handwriting.