As their recent press announcement puts it: “small businesses around the world are increasingly at risk for payment data theft. Nearly half of cyber attacks worldwide in 2015 were against small businesses with less than 250 workers, according to cybersecurity firm Symantec.” And now, to try and help these smaller companies shore up their defenses, the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), whose security protocols and recommendations we report on here, on a recurring basis, have now set up a Small Merchant Task force which has developed a set of payment protection resources for those same businesses.
As reported in Yahoo Business, these resources use “simple diagrams and everyday language,” and are “designed to provide a common point of understanding between merchants, their banks, payment processors, and merchant vendors on why and how to protect against payment data theft. The resources include a basic guide to safe payments; real-life pictures of merchant payment systems; questions for merchants to ask their technology and service providers; and a short glossary that simplifies technical terms.”
In writing about the global standards, UK-based Info Security Magazine quotes the CTO of PCI SSC, Troy Leach, as saying “small businesses around the world are a magnet for cybercriminals who are using automated tools to find easy-to-exploit opportunities. With global migration to EMV chip technology, and increased prevalence of sophisticated point-of-sale (POS) malware, data security has become an issue for companies of all sizes. This is a great opportunity to empower small merchants to better protect themselves against increasing threats through awareness of how payments work and how to minimize risk of exposing their customers’ cardholder data.”
If you’d like to download any or all of the resources, you can do so at this link right here, which takes you to the PCI SSC website.
As Info Security notes, the resources include:
- Guide to Safe Payments: A basic guide to safe payments.
- Common Payment Systems: Real-life pictures of merchant payment systems.
- Glossary of Payment and Information Security Terms: A short glossary that simplifies technical terms.
- Questions to Ask your Vendors: Questions for merchants to ask their technology and service providers.
As for that last category — hey, that’s us! One of your technology and service providers! But you don’t even have to wait to download the PCI SSC resources to contact your AVPS Rep to ask questions.
For info increased payment options for customers both on and off line, and anything else to get yourself up-to-date for the rapidly approaching back-to-school and holiday seasons just ahead of us, you can ask us now! Our own resources are always here for you!
