PCI Compliance Explained: 3 Fixes to Secure Your Payments

Launching a custom website is exciting, but the moment you start accepting credit card payments, you hit a new hurdle: PCI Compliance.

If you have ever received a failed scan report with errors like “Full Path Disclosure” or “Host Header Injection,” you know the panic. These aren’t just technical jargon—they are security gaps that can freeze your ability to process payments.

Here is how we handle these common vulnerabilities at Nanet.

1. Full Path Disclosure: Hiding the Map

If your website crashes and displays a specific error message showing internal file locations, you have just failed your PCI scan. This is called Full Path Disclosure. It gives hackers a “map” of your server’s hard drive, revealing exactly where sensitive files are located.

The Fix: We configure servers to suppress these details completely. Instead of raw system paths, visitors (and scanners) should only ever see a generic “Internal Server Error.” The technical logs stay private, where they belong.

2. Host Header Injection: Verifying Identity

When a browser connects to a server, it sends a digital label saying, “I am looking for nanet.co.uk.” Hackers can manipulate this label to trick your server into trusting malicious domains, which can lead to sophisticated attacks like password reset hijacking.
The Fix: We strictly “whitelist” domains at the server level. If an incoming request doesn’t match your exact domain name, the server drops the connection immediately.

3. The “Silver Bullet”: Strict Firewall Rules

The most common cause of a failed scan is simply leaving the back door unlocked. If a compliance scanner detects that your administrative tools or control panels are open to the public internet, it flags your site as high-risk.

The Fix: We use cloud-level firewalls to create a perimeter wall around your infrastructure.

• Public Web Traffic: Open to everyone, ensuring your customers can always reach you.
• Administrative Access: Locked down to specific, authorized locations only.

This stops scanners—and attackers—before they even reach your server.

Custom Control vs. DIY

In our previous post, Custom Web Development vs. DIY Builders, we talked about the power of ownership. Security is the ultimate proof of that.

With a custom solution, we don’t just build the design; we secure the infrastructure behind it. Passing a PCI scan shouldn’t be a nightmare—it should be standard procedure.

Need help securing your infrastructure? Contact Nanet today.