Data Security (PCI)
Data Security (PCI)
Data Security is very important.
Data Security is a requirement for all businesses that accept credit card payments. It is part of the Merchant Agreement.
Data Security is ultimately the Merchants responsibility, regardless of your point of sale system.
Data security is required no matter how you process credit cards. It does not matter which Point of Sale System you use. If a POS Vendor is not talking about data security, they are doing you a great disservice.
What is Data Security?
Data security is a group of hardware, software and policies and procedures that, taken together, work to keep data on your computers from being stolen. There is no one item to buy, or a single change that can be made that will fulfill the entire requirement. It is a constant process. You may be secure today, but a single action can change that. The way the credit card companies measure a merchant's data security is the Payment Card Industry's Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).
Why is data security important to me?
In 2009, approximately 2,000 restaurants were the victims of credit card data theft, three times more than the number of restaurants attacked in 2008. Significant criminal threats targeting the restaurant industry continue to evolve and are rapidly increasing, because many restaurants lack the proper perimeter security tools, including firewalls, anti-virus software and secure remote access tools. As small business data security breaches explode in number, over 50% of the businesses compromised undergo disruptive business changes or do not survive the attack at all.
|
|
| Real Story about a Data Breach |
|
|
| Follow Up - more that $100,000 later |
What should a small business owner do?
Don't ignore it. Acting like the problems doesn't exist or can't happen to you is just gambling with your business's future. Criminals like easy targets. The big merchants have alreadys addressed data security, making it much easier to target smaller merchants.
Learn about data security. There are many resources available on the internet. A few places to learn are:
- pcidatasecurity.org - the Payment Card Industry's official web site.
- Restaurantdatasecurity.com - a web site dedicated to data security from a restaurant point of view.
Now that you know, what do you do?
Contact us at 888-86-ALOHA, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Radiant Security Services offers a solution focused on data security. RSS offers data security services for a monthly fee that offers you the services needed for data security.
Radiant Security Services includes the following:
- Site Shield - a managed, commercial grade firewall service
- Secure Access - A secure remote access tool
- Threat Defender - an ongoing monitor and network defense service.
About AHS
