“It’s going to get worse before it gets better,” we wrote as 2016 became 2017, citing a Guardian article that had proclaimed our previous year as “The Year of the Hack,” and what it meant for the year ahead, and the years after that — like, for instance, that former “future” we’re living in now.
Category: AVP Solutions Merchant Info
Data Breaches Hit “All Time High” — Can We Keep Them From Getting Worse? (Updated)
All Time High was a good name for a James Bond film theme. But it’s an unwelcome descriptor for a trend in data breaches and hacks. As we wrote earlier this year, Insurance Business Magazine reported, “there were 1,093 tracked data breaches in 2016, a new all-time high according to a report from the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) and CyberScout…the previous record was 780, recorded in 2015, making a 40 per cent increase last year. However, the report asks whether it is the number of incidents that has risen or just the reporting of them by states.”
Travel Tips & Tricks for Summer Card Carriers
Summer travel always brings with it a shifting list of do’s and don’ts, in terms of what to pack, where to go, what to expect if you’re queueing up for a TSA line, etc. It’s also been a good way to mark how people are feeling about the economy around them: Do they see themselves as having the extra income and time for a trip?
If It’s Wednesday, It Must Be SID4B Training Day! (WebEX Link Inside!)
We’re excited here at AVP Solutions, as Wednesday, April 19th rolls around!
Not because it’s the day after Tax Day (well, maybe a little because of that), but because it’s our long-talked about SID4B Training Day, at last!
Our mission at AVP Solutions has always been to equip our merchants with the most comprehensive services and the highest level of customer service available, and as you know, we’ve been rolling out SmartIDentity for Business (SID4B) to our core suite of services!
May the Force Not Be With You: Guard Against Fraudulent Force-Posted Transactions (Pt. 1)
Among the many types of hacks and frauds we warn about, or sadly have to post about (a report discussed by Reuters this week finds that “cyber security breaches erode companies’ share prices permanently”), one to be especially vigilant about is the “force sale” (sometimes called a “force capture” or “offline transaction.”)
AVP Solutions Launches “SID” (SmartIDentity for Business) Training; Join us on April 19th
Our mission at AVP Solutions is to equip our merchants with the most comprehensive services and the highest level of customer service available. In that tradition, we are proud to announce the addition of SmartIDentity for Business (SID4B) to our core suite of services!
Better Credit Card Deals Can Be Yours For the Asking
Who knew that a better deal on credit card rates and fees was simply yours for the asking? Well, evidently everyone who picked up a telephone and dialed up and asked for it! And by “telephone” and “dialing,” we actually mean tapping the number pad on that little computer in your pocket.
The Two Types of Credit Card Users: Churners and Chuggers
There are numerous pieces of philosophical shorthand floating around about there being “two types of people” in the world — those that like a certain type of entertainment or music, say, or those that don’t. Perhaps a kind of food, or a political philosophy.
Beyond the Antivirus Software, Pt. II
As we write this morning, the internet is recovering from a partial loss of “the cloud” as Amazon’s S3 server had gone out, resulting in the shuttering of numerous websites and services. Since we posted last week, a massive potential breach to numerous websites has made headlines, as the Cloudflare security service used by many sites– like Uber and OKCupid — was itself compromised for several months.
A Brief History of the Unlikely Rise of the Credit Card
We don’t know if you’re in the habit of reading the venerable Christian Science Monitor, but they’re a reliable source of what remains real news, and many of their features and backgrounders are fascinating, as well.
