Web Skimming & Client-Side Protection Tools 2026
Web skimming and client-side protection tools stop attacks like Magecart, where malicious JavaScript is injected into a checkout page and quietly copies card numbers as a customer types them in. Because the malicious code often comes from a compromised third-party script rather than the merchant's own code, these tools inventory every script running on a payment page, watch for unauthorized changes, and can block a script from reading form fields or sending data to an unapproved destination. PCI DSS 6.4.3 requires an inventory and integrity check of every script on a payment page, and 11.6.1 requires a change-and-tamper-detection mechanism for that page, which is exactly what tools in this subcategory are built to satisfy.
We cover 4 Web Skimming & Client-Side Protection tools, 0 free and 4 commercial.
Accuracy and depth improve over time. Last reviewed Sep 2026. Is something off? Reach out.
FEATURED
GLBA compliance monitoring for financial institutions' websites and apps
Protects digital ads from malvertising by detecting malicious creatives
Payment page security solution with tokenization for PCI DSS compliance
Akamai Client-Side Protection & Compliance is a security tool that monitors and protects against client-side threats on websites, aiding in PCI DSS v4.0 compliance.
How to choose Web Skimming & Client-Side Protection tools
- Confirm the tool inventories every script on the payment page automatically, since a manually maintained list falls out of date as marketing and analytics tags change.
- Check that it can actually block a script's behavior, such as reading a form field or sending data to a new destination, not just alert after the fact.
- Verify it maps directly to PCI DSS 6.4.3 and 11.6.1 if that compliance requirement is why you are buying it.
- Test how quickly it detects a newly injected or altered script; a detection window of hours instead of minutes leaves real exposure.
- Ask how it handles legitimate third-party script updates, since a tool that blocks every change generates too much noise for a team to act on.
Web Skimming & Client-Side Protection Tools FAQ
Common questions about Web Skimming & Client-Side Protection tools, selection guides, pricing, and comparisons.
Web skimming, often called a Magecart attack, is malicious JavaScript running in a customer's browser on a checkout page that captures card details as they are typed and sends them to an attacker. It commonly enters through a compromised third-party script, an ad tag, a chat widget, an analytics tool, rather than the merchant's own code, which is why a merchant can be fully patched and still get skimmed through a vendor they trust.
A WAF inspects requests arriving at your server. Web skimming happens entirely inside the customer's browser, often through a third-party script your server never sees as malicious, since the script itself may be legitimate but later compromised. Client-side protection tools instead run in the browser context, watching what scripts actually do once they execute, which a server-side WAF has no visibility into.
If your checkout is entirely hosted by a payment provider, and the customer never enters card data on your own page, your exposure is much lower, and the PCI scope-reduction benefit is a big part of why merchants choose hosted checkout. If any part of the payment page is your own code, or you embed the provider's fields inside your own page, you still carry third-party script risk and the PCI DSS 6.4.3/11.6.1 requirements likely still apply.
