This is one of the critical vulnerabilities that can expose users to data breaches and fraud is the sending of sensitive information, such as credit card details, passwords or personal identification to a payment gateway in an unencrypted format — i.e., in plain text.
When you send sensitive info like credit card numbers, usernames or passwords online, it often goes through HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). Without encryption, this data is sent as plain text, so it's not protected. Plain text refers to data that is readable by anyone who intercepts it. In the context of online payments, sending information in plain text exposes this sensitive data to anyone with access to the transmission path, such as hackers, malicious third parties or even unauthorized individuals within the network. If payment information is sent in plain text, it can be intercepted, captured and exploited by malicious actors.
The vulnerability of sending sensitive information in an unencrypted format can be mitigated by following well-defined security steps:
Ensure any third-party payment processors or services you use also support HTTPS and strong encryption. Make sure your website supports and enforces HTTPS for every page, especially those that handle payments. Many modern browsers now flag HTTP pages as insecure, which could deter customers from completing their transactions.
Purchase an SSL/TLS certificate from a trusted certificate authority (CA), install it on your server, and configure it to handle secure connections. Regularly check and renew certificates to ensure they do not expire.
Configure your server to support only strong encryption protocols, such as TLS 1.2 or TLS 1.3. Disable outdated protocols like SSLv3, TLS 1.0, and TLS 1.1 to prevent attackers from exploiting these weaknesses. Confirm that all APIs and webhooks connected to your system use encrypted protocols.
Use end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for sensitive data before it leaves the client-side (browser) and ensure it remains encrypted until it reaches the payment gateway or backend server. This ensures that data remains protected throughout the transaction process. Make sure any data storage solution which is encrypted both at rest and in transit.
Instead of sending sensitive payment data such as credit card numbers directly to the payment gateway, use tokenization. This process replaces sensitive information with a unique identifier (token) that is meaningless outside of the secure environment of the payment processor. Work with your payment processor to implement tokenization, ensuring that sensitive payment information is replaced with non-sensitive tokens that can be securely handled.