Retailers: Your safest bet against cyber attacks

On opening this piece, you’re probably thinking, “here’s one more article related to cyber crime and a few more tips on protecting your data.” Sometimes, the information overload on cyber security makes the process of securing data seem more complex than it is worth. In this past year, despite retailers’ best attempts at juggling the moving parts, simple neglected steps caused the number of breaches to rise.

According to a study sponsored by IBM, despite the decline in the overall cost, companies are having larger breaches. The average size of the data breaches in this research increased 1.8 percent to more than 24,000 records. Although these reports are discouraging, there is a path for your business to stay strong against hackers.

Winning in the face of cyber attacks 

As Rocky Balboa famously said, winning is about “how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” While there are no 100% guarantees that can stop data compromises, there ARE ways to ensure that your business can bounce back strong from a breach, that your network is an unfavorable target to a hacker, and no matter what happens, that your business can keep moving forward. And, the solution does not have to be complicated.

Here are Omega’s 10 effective steps to ongoing data security and continuous compliance

1. Tighten up network configurations – secure firewalls, routers, switches, wireless access points, and other components of your network infrastructure
2. Secure endpoints – desktop computer, laptops, smart phones, printers, POS systems
3. Control access privileges – ensure only a limited number of people have admin access
4. Track and log all activities – helps trace events at all times, especially if an incident occurs
5. Account for all hardware and software devices – every device and application on them should be approved and accounted for
6. Monitor the card data environment (CDE) – helps detect unusual activities and alerts on the necessary ones
7. Install and keep up with updates – software, antivirus, anti malware, patches, including history
8. Document – manage changes to CDE, assess risks
9. Incident response plan – have a procedure to follow and practice them in case an event happens
10. People security – train employees, have a process to identify/track visitors, physically secure CDE

Data security does not have to be complicated and there are real solutions to keep your business strong. Call Omega at 636-557-7777 x2453 to get help. Email Ashwin Swamy at ashwin.swamy@omegaatc.com or get in touch with us online.