During this high-traffic season, businesses across the country will be more vulnerable than ever to hackers seeking to steal their customers’ financial information. Because of this, businesses need to take special care to ensure that they are providing the most secure payment processing possible. At AVPS, we believe that businesses need to make this a top priority, not only for their customers’ safety but for the sake of their own reputation
Category: credit card security
Study: Fraud Up Over 100% Since Last Labor Day
According to the latest AAA survey, “cheap gas prices are expected to boost Labor Day weekend travel as revelers pursue a last blast of summer fun before autumn weather begins. About 55 percent of Americans say they’re more likely to take a road trip this year due to lower gas prices.”
Increasingly Cashless in an Age of “Big Hacks”
We never want our posts to be about hacks or data breaches two or more weeks running. But as most of us find out, when checking the climate-shifted weather reports, or reading up on the elections, the news cycle doesn’t bow to our own particular needs or desires.
Stealing Payment Card Data “Dead Easy;” “Quickchip” Comes to NorCal
It’s a yin/yang, up-and-down week in payment and security news. Though to be sure, the downside hasn’t been “overly” down, in terms of major breaches or security hacks (though if you have a Yahoo account, you may want to consider changing the password — again).
1 in 3 Hit By Hacks; U.S. Near Top Due to Slow EMV Adoption
A recent study by ACI Worldwide and the Aite Group has found that upwards of 30% of global consumers have been victims of some type card fraud in the past five years. Statistically then, this has happened to almost a third of the people reading this very article.
Consumers Suing Lax Retailers, post-EMV. Plus: Baseball
In another sign of how the responsibility for data security — and the liability for same — is shifting, Payments Source reports that “merchants are facing consumer lawsuits stemming from the introduction of EMV-chip card security at the point of sale in the U.S., exposing the issues many stores must contend with now that they are held liable for fraud and chargebacks.”
Scam Alert, Pt. II: How to Protect Against Skimmers
Last week, we mentioned a rash of phony invoices that are being sent by companies alleging to help with EMV upgrades, along with some preliminary advice on how to be aware of whether skimmers were being placed on the POS devices at your business.
Scam Alert Warning, Pt. I: Phony EMV “Invoices” and All-Too-Real Skimmers
Unfortunately, both this week and next, we have a couple of scams affecting merchants to warn you about, either trying to pry money out of merchants directly, through phony invoices, or to get that money from your customers by “skimming” their credit card information.
Credit Card Security and Your Vacation
Summer is the busiest travel season, but it’s also a time when credit card transaction security risk is on the rise.
If you’re planning your seasonal vacation, you need to take some basic precautions to ensure that your experience isn’t marred by financial disasters. Here are some tips for keeping your credit cards safe:
PCI Sets New Security Standards – Gets Surprising Pushback
As the Finextra website reminds us, “merchants and other businesses globally use ‘PA-DSS Validated’ software to ensure they can safely accept payments, both in-store and online.” And now there are updated “procedures for secure installation of software patches and updates, and instructions for protecting cardholder data if using debugging logs for troubleshooting, as these can be exploited during a compromise.
