Retail Data Security

Significant criminal threats are targeting small businesses in the retail industry and they are continuing to evolve and increase in impact.  In general, over 90% of all compromised merchants are small merchants that process less than 1 million transactions per year. The majority of these are not Internet business transactions as more than 80% of compromised systems were “card present” or in-person transactions. Most of the attacks that are successful happen because many small business retailers lack the proper perimeter security tools, including firewalls, anti-virus software and secure remote access tools. As these 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.

At the same time, various Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS) mandates and deadlines are occurring this year and confusion around these PCI-related communications continues to increase. No one “silver bullet” exists that will make your store PCI compliant, and unfortunately, many retailers are not focused on how to protect themselves and their business from data security-related risks.

If you are the owner or manager of a retail business that stores, processes or transmits credit card information, your business is required to be compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. Being compliant goes beyond simply implementing a data security standard validated payment application, like your POS software, and is not a “one-time” act. Remaining compliant with data security standards and remaining secure at your site(s) requires ongoing commitment and actions from you and your staff.