[Hidden-tech] Shopping cart security

[Peter Hutchins]

I'd like to run a development concept past the security minded folks  
out there for some critical feedback:

I'm setting up a shopping cart for a client who wants to process  
credit card purchases "offline", i.e.: run the transaction through  
their credit card terminal as though it were a phone order without a  
web-based payment gateway or merchant account. This obviously requires  
collecting and storing critical credit card data until the store owner  
processes the transaction, at which point the critical data can be  
deleted.

Here's my proposed solution for securely handling the data:
1. CC info is gathered in a SSL encrypted form
2. expiration data and ccv are written to a database and encrypted via  
mysql's AES_ENCRYPT() (this DB is separate from the regular store DB  
providing separate password protection, in case the first DB is  
compromised)
3. credit card number is split into two parts, with one half being  
encrypted and written to the database with the transaction above
4. the other half of the credit card number is written to a file that  
is encrypted with GnuPG and emailed to the store owner (protecting it  
with a Private/Public key and passphrase).
5. when the store owner gets the email, he logs into the store admin,  
views the online credit card info, processes the order and deletes the  
online data from the database and the email from his inbox.

- One issue I see is that the database login and encryption key for  
that half of the process must be stored on the server, rendering it  
vulnerable to compromise, but the other half of the CC info is still  
protected.

So, my questions are:
- Is this secure "enough"?
- Is there a better way?

Thanks!
-Peter Hutchins


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Peter Hutchins
Litmus Designs
505 S. Albany St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
413.582.7038 voice
413.517.0596 fax
www.litmusdesigns.com

web design, custom programming & graphic design
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