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<span>Commentary<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> Outdated government web forms are placing millions of citizens at risk as sensitive information is collected and transmitted through insecure, non-compliant systems. <\/p>\n<p>  <br \/>\n<audio id=\"audio-player\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-tts-cdn.api.scpnewsgrp.com\/cyberscoop\/86894\/english.openai.mp3\"><\/audio> <\/p>\n<div readability=\"11\">\n<div>\n<p>Listen to this article<\/p>\n<p>  <\/p>\n<p>0:00<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>  <\/p>\n<p> <span id=\"tts-tooltip\">Learn more.<\/span> <span> This feature uses an automated voice, which may result in occasional errors in pronunciation, tone, or sentiment. <\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/legacy-web-forms-are-the-weakest-link-in-government-data-security.jpg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/legacy-web-forms-are-the-weakest-link-in-government-data-security-2.jpg 12500w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/legacy-web-forms-are-the-weakest-link-in-government-data-security-2.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/legacy-web-forms-are-the-weakest-link-in-government-data-security-2.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/legacy-web-forms-are-the-weakest-link-in-government-data-security-2.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, 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https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/legacy-web-forms-are-the-weakest-link-in-government-data-security-2.jpg?resize=1265,843 1265w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1013px) 100vw, 1013px\"><figcaption> (Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"102.16680399158\"><body readability=\"204.93598648395\"><\/p>\n<p>Federal, state, and local government agencies face a critical vulnerability hiding in plain sight: outdated web forms collecting citizen data through insecure channels. While agencies invest in perimeter security and threat detection, many continue using legacy forms built years ago without modern encryption, authentication, or compliance capabilities. These aging systems collect Social Security numbers, financial records, health information, and security clearance data through technology that cannot meet current federal security standards.<\/p>\n<p>The scope of the problem is substantial. Government agencies allocate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spiderstrategies.com\/blog\/government-it-modernization\/\">80% of IT budgets<\/a> to maintaining legacy systems, starving modernization efforts while feeding outdated technology. The federal government\u2019s 10 most critical legacy systems\u2014ranging from 8 to 51 years old\u2014cost <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextgov.com\/modernization\/2019\/06\/10-government-legacy-systems-cost-taxpayers-337-million-every-year\/157682\/\">$337 million annually<\/a> to operate and maintain, with total projected spending on legacy systems reaching $2.4 billion by 2030. Meanwhile, government data breaches cost an average of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.varonis.com\/blog\/data-breach-statistics\">$10.22 million<\/a> per incident in the United States\u2014the highest globally.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-https-problem-that-won-t-go-away\">The HTTPS problem that won\u2019t go away<\/h4>\n<p>Despite <a href=\"https:\/\/fedscoop.com\/https-only-us-government\/\">the 2015 federal mandate<\/a> establishing HTTPS as the baseline for all government websites, implementation gaps persist. The unencrypted HTTP protocol exposes data to interception, manipulation, and impersonation attacks. Attackers positioned on the network can read Social Security numbers, driver\u2019s license numbers, financial account numbers, and login credentials transmitted in plain text. Man-in-the-middle attackers can alter form data during transmission without detection.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Recent federal security assessments reveal ongoing challenges. The Department of Health and Human Services\u2019 information security program rated <a href=\"https:\/\/oig.hhs.gov\/reports\/all\/2024\/review-of-the-department-of-health-and-human-services-compliance-with-the-federal-information-security-modernization-act-of-2014-for-fiscal-year-2024\/\">\u201cNot Effective\u201d<\/a> for FY 2024\u2014the same rating as FY 2023\u2014based on inability to meet maturity levels for core security functions including Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover.<\/p>\n<p>Legacy government web forms that do implement encryption often use outdated protocols that no longer meet regulatory requirements. Older systems rely on SHA-1 hashing and TLS 1.0, which are vulnerable to known exploits and don\u2019t meet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realtyme.com\/blog\/the-role-of-encryption-in-government-communications\">NIST, CJIS, or HIPAA<\/a> requirements. Without HTTP Strict Transport Security enforcement, browsers don\u2019t automatically use secure connections, allowing users to access unencrypted form pages.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-application-layer-vulnerabilities\">Application-layer vulnerabilities<\/h4>\n<p>Beyond transmission security, legacy web forms suffer from fundamental application vulnerabilities that modern platforms address in their design. Testing of government web applications revealed that more than <a href=\"https:\/\/ijcat.com\/archives\/volume5\/issue10\/ijcatr05101001.pdf\">80% are prone<\/a> to SQL injection attacks. Unlike private sector organizations that remediate 73% of identified vulnerabilities, government departments remediate only 27%\u2014the lowest among all industry sectors.<\/p>\n<p>SQL injection remains one of the most dangerous attacks against government web forms. Legacy forms that construct database queries using string concatenation, rather than employing parameterized queries, introduce serious vulnerabilities. This insecure practice allows attackers to inject malicious SQL code, potentially gaining unauthorized access to sensitive data such as National Identity information, license details, and Social Security numbers. Attackers can exploit these vulnerabilities to alter or delete user identity records, manipulate data to forge official documents, and even exfiltrate entire databases containing citizen information. The continued use of string concatenation in query construction exposes critical government systems to significant risks.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Cross-site scripting (XSS) affects <a href=\"https:\/\/ijcat.com\/archives\/volume5\/issue10\/ijcatr05101001.pdf\">75% of government applications<\/a> compared to other industry sectors. XSS attacks on government web forms enable attackers to directly manipulate users\u2019 browsers, capture keystrokes to steal credentials and form data, obtain session cookies to hijack authenticated sessions, and redirect users to malicious websites. Government healthcare application forms are particularly vulnerable, where XSS could enable altering medical information to create fake prescriptions.<\/p>\n<p>Legacy forms also lack protection against cross-site request forgery attacks (CSRF), which trick authenticated government users into performing unwanted actions without their knowledge. Modern secure forms implement unique, unpredictable anti-CSRF tokens for each session, validating them server-side before processing requests. Legacy forms lack this protection entirely.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-compliance-gap\">Compliance gap<\/h4>\n<p>Federal agencies must comply with the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA), which requires implementation of NIST SP 800-53 security controls including access control, configuration management, identification and authentication, and system and communications protection. Legacy web forms fail FISMA compliance when they cannot implement modern encryption for data in transit and at rest, lack multi-factor authentication capabilities, don\u2019t maintain comprehensive audit logs, use unsupported software without security patches, and operate with known exploitable vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n<p>The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) found IRS platforms exhibit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tigta.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/reports\/2025-09\/2025200035fr.pdf\">insufficient vulnerability scanning<\/a> and remediation, inadequate configuration controls, and systems lacking modern protection capabilities. Critical and high vulnerabilities on IRS servers ranged from days to months overdue for remediation, with applications requiring protection lacking proper safeguards.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Federal agencies using third-party web form platforms must ensure these vendors have appropriate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kiteworks.com\/cybersecurity-risk-management\/secure-data-forms-how-fedramp-data-sovereignty-control\/\">FedRAMP authorization<\/a>. FedRAMP requires security controls compliance incorporating NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 controls, impact level authorization based on data sensitivity, and continuous monitoring of encryption methods and security posture. Legacy government web forms implemented through non-FedRAMP-authorized platforms, consumer-grade SaaS tools, or on-premises systems without proper security assessments represent unauthorized use of non-compliant systems.<\/p>\n<p>All 50 states have data breach notification laws requiring organizations to notify affected individuals when personally identifiable information is compromised. Legacy web forms create notification violations through inability to detect breaches, unknown breach scope without audit trails, missed notification deadlines, and unclear encryption status that affects notification exemptions.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-real-world-transmission-failures\">Real-world transmission failures<\/h4>\n<p>The gap between policy and practice is stark. Federal agencies including GSA, DoD, and DOE labs require contractors to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/sysadmin\/comments\/fw6akv\/its_extremely_frustrating_how_many_large\/\">submit forms<\/a> with Social Security numbers, dates of birth, driver\u2019s license numbers, criminal histories, and credit information via standard non-encrypted email as plain PDF attachments. When contractors offer encrypted alternatives like <a href=\"https:\/\/learn.microsoft.com\/en-us\/purview\/ome\">Microsoft OME<\/a>, password-protected files, or secure links, badge offices respond with \u201cThat\u2019s how we\u2019ve always done it and that\u2019s the only way we\u2019ll do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Most federal agencies lack basic secure portals for PII submission, forcing reliance on email despite DoD and GSA policies requiring PII transmitted outside internal mail systems to be encrypted. Standard Form 86 for national security clearances and other government forms are distributed as fillable PDFs that can be completed offline, saved unencrypted, and transmitted through insecure channels\u2014despite containing complete background investigation data for millions of federal employees and contractors.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Recent breaches highlight ongoing vulnerabilities in government data systems. The <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/treasury-workstations-hacked-china-beyondtrust-identity-access-management\/\">U.S. Treasury Department<\/a> suffered a 2024 breach when hackers accessed its unclassified network through a compromised software key, exposing internal documents about U.S. financial operations. Earlier this month, <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/congressional-budget-office-cybersecurity-incident\/\">the Congressional Budget Office was hacked<\/a> by a suspected foreign actor, potentially exposing key financial research. DISA Global Solutions, a Texas-based provider of employee screening services including background checks, confirmed in February 2025 a massive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cyber.nj.gov\/Home\/Components\/News\/News\/1632\/216\">data breach<\/a> affecting more than 3.3 million people, exposing Social Security numbers, financial information, and government-issued identity documents\u2014with unauthorized access lasting over two months before detection.<\/p>\n<p>Tax forms pose significant security risks because many IRS applications are extremely outdated\u2014some over 60 years old and written in COBOL and Assembler. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlogica.com\/resources\/blogs\/agencies-need-to-continue-addressing-critical-legacy-systems\">recent report<\/a> found 231 IRS IT systems are legacy systems with critical security vulnerabilities. Web forms collecting taxpayer PII including Social Security numbers, income details, banking information, and tax filings are transmitted through these vulnerable legacy platforms.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-agencies-must-do-now\">What agencies must do now<\/h4>\n<p>Government agencies must immediately enforce HTTPS encryption for all web form pages using HSTS, deploy server-side input validation to prevent SQL injection and XSS attacks, implement anti-CSRF tokens for each form session, add CAPTCHA and bot protection, enable comprehensive access logging, and conduct regular vulnerability scanning for OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n<p>Long-term security requires replacing legacy forms with FedRAMP-authorized platforms that provide end-to-end encryption using AES-256 for data at rest and TLS 1.3 for data in transit, multi-factor authentication for both citizens and government staff, role-based access control with granular permissions, comprehensive audit trails capturing all data access events, automated security updates addressing emerging vulnerabilities, and digital workflow automation eliminating manual processes.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Agencies should also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.formassembly.com\/blog\/6-of-the-biggest-data-collection-challenges-government-organizations-face\/\">consolidate forms<\/a> into centralized platforms rather than managing dozens of disconnected form tools, creating unified security policies, consistent user experiences, and simplified compliance management.<\/p>\n<p>The real question is not whether government agencies can afford to modernize outdated web forms, but whether they can afford the consequences of failing to do so. Every unencrypted submission, each SQL injection vulnerability, and each missing audit trail represents citizen data at risk and regulatory violations accumulating. Federal mandates established the security standards years ago. Implementation can no longer wait.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank Balonis is chief information security officer and senior vice president of operations and support at <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kiteworks.com\/\"><em>Kiteworks<\/em><\/a><em>, with more than 20 years of experience in IT support and services.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Update, 11\/23\/2025, 2:20 p.m.: <\/strong><em>This op-ed incorrectly described the way the state of Washington\u2019s MFA system operated. We regret the error. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"2.1268656716418\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"10\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/legacy-web-forms-are-the-weakest-link-in-government-data-security-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Frank Balonis\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by Frank Balonis<\/h4>\n<p> Frank Balonis is chief information security officer and senior vice president of operations and support at Kiteworks, with more than 20 years of experience in IT support and services. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__tags-container\">\n<h4 class=\"single-article__tags-title\">In This Story<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<p> 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{"id":8144,"date":"2025-11-21T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=86894"},"modified":"2025-11-21T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T11:00:00","slug":"legacy-web-forms-are-the-weakest-link-in-government-data-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2025\/11\/21\/legacy-web-forms-are-the-weakest-link-in-government-data-security\/","title":{"rendered":"Legacy web forms are the weakest link in government data security"},"content":{"rendered":"