Source Defense vs Akamai Client-Side Protection
Client-Side Protection & Compliance at a lower cost than Akamai.
Akamai alerts after the attack. Source Defense blocks it.
Why Teams Choose Source Defense over Akamai
Akamai relies on manual policy updates after an issue occurs and cannot isolate scripts, leaving third- and fourth-party code free to interact directly with the page. It also forces teams to manually test and approve each script before deployment, adding friction to every release cycle. Source Defense takes a preventive approach, blocking keylogging, formjacking, and unauthorized DOM activity the moment it happens.
Akamai’s visibility is limited because it groups scripts only by vendor and cannot differentiate behavior on payment pages. This leaves teams without the service-level or behavioral insight needed to understand how scripts actually act. Source Defense automatically inventories, classifies, and manages payment-page scripts with full behavioral context.
Akamai also lacks automated compliance outputs, requiring manual justification of scripts during audits. Source Defense provides one-click PCI 6.4.3 and 11.6.1 evidence validated by Coalfire and VikingCloud, giving teams auditor-ready documentation with no additional work.
Source Defense provides a single dashboard view of your PCI DSS 4.0.1 compliance status for script security requirements 6.4.3 and 11.6.1
Protect what Akamai cannot
See browser side risks in real time and give your team the evidence auditors expect.
Trusted by global merchants and assessors.
Independent reviews by CoalFire, VikingCloud, and Verizon confirm that Source Defense meets PCI DSS 4.0.1 requirements 6.4.3 and 11.6.1—something Akamai cannot claim today.
| Source Defense Advantage | What Akamai Misses |
|---|---|
| Easy-to-use PCI dashboard and ability to view all data and views relevant for payment pages only | Only provides site-wide data, making it difficult to manage payment-page-specific information |
| Automatically recommends tried-and-tested policies based on Machine Learning using accumulated data from over a decade | Protection is reactive, not proactive, and requires manual application and individual testing before deploying to production |
| Auto-grouping of script files as services for easy management and identification of new behavior/ensuring integrity per service | Each script file is managed individually, making it difficult to manage and differentiate between behaviors of different services from the same vendor |
| Supported, providing a higher layer of protection without entirely blocking scripts | Does not support script isolation (sandboxing) |
| Simple deployment, not dependent on other client-side solutions in place | Dependent on other Akamai products for straightforward deployment, which can make implementation difficult if not bought as a bundle |
A Holistic Approach to Protecting Credit Card Payment Flows
Protection of Sensitive Data Using the Source Defense Platform.
Source Defense Protect: Behavior Based Application Defense
Learn how Source Defense’s approach to behavioral based defense can help you!
Since introducing the first behavior-based client-side protection platform in 2016, Source Defense has continued to safeguard the global payments ecosystem from data theft, privacy violations, and compliance failures. Source Defense started with protecting the browser.
Most web security platforms stop at the network perimeter. But 97% of websites now rely on third-party scripts running in the browser, the exact layer where eSkimming and compliance violations occur. Source Defense closes that gap with continuous monitoring, policy control, and PCI-ready evidence.
About Source Defense
As a PCI Participating Organization and pioneer in eSkimming security, Source Defense helped shape the PCI DSS 4.0 web security standards. Our platform protects global merchants and QSAs, delivering real-time browser-side protection and compliance automation.