“Small businesses are particularly at risk from the costs and opportunity loss associated with a data breach. Implementing the guidance published by the PCI SSC Small Merchant Taskforce will help a small business improve its data security practices and reduce the risk of data theft.“ - Michael Christodoulides, Barclaycard, PCI Small Merchant Taskforce Co-Chair
Security risks are everywhere these days - everyone up and down the chain is affected. At Skurla's Point of Sale Solutions, we take security very seriously - and wanted to share some resources from the PCI Security Council.
But first, here are some frightening data points shared by the PCI Security Council:
- 71% of hackers attack businesses with under 100 employees (Verizon 2012)
- 60% of small businesses experienced a cyber breach (HM Government)
- $20,752 is the average cost to small businesses due to hacking (NSBA)
If this scares you too, keep reading below to learn more about how to protect your business -
Over the next several months, we will be sharing the Council's advice on How to Protect Your Business With These Security Basics:
- Use strong passwords and change default ones
- Protect your card data and only store what you need
- Inspect payment terminals for tampering
- Install patches from your vendors
- Use trusted business partners and know how to contact them
- Protect in-house access to your card data
- Don’t give hackers easy access to your systems
- Use anti-virus software
- Scan for vulnerabilities and fix issues
- Use secure payment terminals and solutions
- Protect your business from the Internet
- For the best protection, make your data useless to criminals
Click here to download your copy of the guide.
For more information on this topic or other point of sale and payment concerns, call us at 907-243-2683. Or fill out the form below and one of our representatives will contact you.
