Verizon’s fifth annual Data Breach Investigations Report reviewed 855 confirmed security breaches accounting for a combined 174 million compromised records. Verizon’s Research Investigations Solutions Knowledge (RISK) team analyzed the data and attempt to explain what happened, who did it and who was affected. The 2012 DBIR again includes data provided by the United States Secret Service and the Dutch National High Tech Crime Unit.
Many hacking attacks are directed against small companies and most can be prevented with a few small and relatively easy steps.
Below you’ll find a few tips based on Verizon’s research into thousands of security breaches affecting companies like yours that use point-of-sale (POS) systems to process customer (credit/debit card) payments.
1) Change administrative passwords on all POS systems so the password is complex.
- Hackers are scanning the Internet for easily guessable passwords.
2) Implement a firewall or access control list on Internet-facing services.
- If hackers can’t reach your system, they can’t easily steal from it.
Some other security measures to consider:
- Avoid using POS systems to browse the web (or anything else on the Internet for that matter).
- Make sure your POS is a PCI DSS compliant application (ask your vendor)
Lastly, if a third-party vendor looks after your POS systems, ask them to confirm that these have been done. If possible, obtain documentation. Following these simple practices will save a lot of wasted money, time, and other troubles for your business and your customers.
For more insights from the 2012 Data Breach Investigations Report visit www.verizonbusiness.com/databreach (but please don’t access this site from your POS system). To see more charts click here.
Later at 11 a.m. ET there will be a news conference to learn:
• Why 2011 was the year of the “hacktivist” or cyber hacking to advance political or social
objectives and some of the tactics behind them.
• How cyberattacks are changing.
• What can be done to stave off cyberattacks.
Just dial in via conference bridge: U.S. dial-in: 866-803-2143; participant passcode: DBIR
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Contact the editor: tumara.r.jordan@verizon.com
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