Is it really that important to think deep about POS security? Yes, it is. The retail industry has been hit by a lot of data breaches and other cyber security incidents as of late. Over the last few years, the attack on Target’s POS systems was one of the biggest cases of such cyber attacks. As their systems were hacked, over forty million of their customers’ debit and credit card data were stolen from the organization’s databases. The result? Target had to pay up to ten million dollars in damages!
If this isn’t enough of a reason for you to start protecting your POS systems against such attacks, you are just putting yourself more at risk as data breaches are becoming more expensive to “clean up” after the damages are done. Just last year, the expenses that are associated with data breaches amount up to a staggering $3.8 million. That’s over a 20 percent increase from numbers collected in the past.
You need to protect yourself from Operation Black Atlas
Recent research has shown that a team of notorious hackers have set their sights on retailers and have created powerful botnets and malicious programs to facilitate their attacks. A hacker campaign in 2015, called Operation Black Atlas, used a malware called BlackPOS to steal credit card information from U.S. retailers. What’s more, organizations within the health care industry also became a target of these attacks. As many organizations within these industries use POS systems, it is pertinent that they are cyber secure. Otherwise, the hackers can continue to perform reconnaissance and gather the information they need from vulnerable systems.
Your organization’s reputation is on the line
Potential hacks on your POS systems will not only cost you money – these are only short term effects – as they can damage your organization’s reputation as well. If your customer base becomes disgruntled from such incidents, you may sustain a significant loss of revenue down the line. If you are a retailer, you may sustain losses to your bottom line as well, because there is now a lack of trust from your customer base. If you do not want your POS systems to be invaded by malware and have your customers’ data stolen, it’s time to increase the security of your POS system.
Is it easy to keep my POS systems safe?
Now that you have gained better insight into the importance of keeping your POS terminals secure at both online and brick-and-mortar stores, let’s move on to the POS solutions that will help you improve security. For starters, you can invest in the right cyber security solutions to keep your POS systems clean of malware and ensure that your customers’ data (such as card numbers, expiration dates and security codes) are safe.
After that, you may consider installing endpoint security solutions to strengthen POS security and keep malicious programs out. These solutions are easy to install and you can get it up and running in no time. Remember, you can avoid the negative reputation and heavy financial burden that data breaches bring about by using security tools that provide comprehensive security coverage over entire systems.