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A Master Secure Form Processor

By Will Bontrager

Master Form V4 is a good choice for processing secure server forms.

Install Master Form V4 on the secure server where the web page form is at. The form submission will be secure. (Secure Socket Layer or SSL is the technical name for a secure server connection.)

A form is secure when the URL in the browser starts with https:// (note the "s" after "http") and the browser's "secure" icon (generally a padlock image) is locked.

When using images or external CSS or JavaScript files on the web page of a secure form, the images and files must be retrieved with a secure URL. Otherwise, the browser's "secure" icon will refuse to lock. Secure URLs for images and external files can either be relative to the secure web page or begin with https://.

When people tell me, "the form is on a secure server but the padlock isn't locked," the usual reason is an image or external file being retrieved with a non-secure URL.

When Master Form V4 receives the secure information from a secure form submission, the information needs to be kept secure.

Do not ever tell Master Form V4 to send you sensitive information by email. Email is not secure. Instead, tell Master Form V4 to store the sensitive information on the secure server where you can retrieve it later on -- with a secure connection, of course.

Retrieving the information on the secure server can be done with SFTP (a secure FTP) or with the browser through a secure https:// URL.

This is how we do it:

1. The form is on a secure web page. Images and external files are retrieved with secure URLs. The browser's "secure" icon is locked.

2. Master Form V4 is installed on the same secure server as the web page with the form.

3. When the secure form is submitted, the form information is sent securely to Master Form V4. Master Form V4 does two things with the information:

   1. Stores all the form information on the secure server with a unique file name.

   2. Sends an email to us with the name of the information file.

4. When we receive the email, we use Secure View and Remove, also installed on the secure server, to retrieve the information and then forever delete the information file.

In that way, all information transmissions from browser to server and vice versa are done with a secure connection.

Master Form V4 truly is a master secure form processor.

July 14, 2008

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