Switchfast Blog: The Future of IT
Point of Sales Security for Small Business
Friday, July 29, 2011 by Michael Lewis
This is the sort of story that makes you feel sick to your
stomach. This week the
Wall Street Journal profiled Joe Angelastri, owner of City
Newsstand in Chicago. The security of his point-of-sale machines
was compromised and credit card numbers were stolen. MasterCard
demanded that Angelastri pick up the tab for the investigation.
When all is said and done, half of Angelastri's profits for the
year had disappeared. Malware had found its way on his PC Charge
based POS machine. The malware collected personal data and
forwarded it to an email account in Russia.This sort of thing is
not as strange as it sounds. The
WSJ reports:
"In 2010, the U.S. Secret Service and Verizon Communications
Inc.'s forensic analysis unit, which investigates attacks,
responded to a combined 761 data breaches, up from 141 in 2009. Of
those, 482, or 63%, were at companies with 100 employees or fewer.
Visa Inc. estimates about 95% of the credit-card data breaches it
discovers are on its smallest business customers."
Small businesses do not have the same level of resources or
expertise to keep up with the technology security issues that face
small businesses. A hacker may be able to steal more personal data
from large corporations or banks but it will be much harder to get
to. Small businesses represent easy targets for hackers.
Unfortunately, they are more likely to use weak passwords or not
keep their antivirus and firewalls up to date.
The article cites Dean Kinsman, a special agent in the FBI's
cyber division stating how small businesses are especially
vulnerable to these types of attacks and "it's going to get much
worse before it gets better."
How can you make sure that you and your customers are safe from
credit card fraud?
- Change your passwords now. Not tomorrow, not when daily light
saves time ends, not when you get around to it. Now.
- Make sure the password is secure. Do not use names or dates.
Use special characters, numbers, and capitals. Check out a previous
blog we wrote detailing how to make an impenetrable
password.
- Limit access to the web from any POS computer. This computer is
for running the cash register, not checking Facebook.
- Make sure your antivirus software and firewalls are up to
date.
Hackers are extremely intelligent and resourceful, and worst of
all, not going away anytime soon. Some of the most highly protected
Fortune 500 companies are being attacked. As a small business, it
is imperative you take every step possible to ensure your business
sensitive data will never be hacked.
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