6 Potential Security Threats to Your Business

While cutting-edge technology in the payments industry can produce positive outcomes, there are always potential threats that come along with it and merchants need to be aware to keep their businesses safe. According to Digital Transactions, the average cost per breach in the United States is $225 – which is one of the highest in the world.

According to Corey Nachreiner, chief technology officer at Seattle-based security firm, WatchGuard Technologies Inc., the average time to identify a malware attack is more than six months. Nachreiner finds that number alarming, so he recently educated POS retailers on the top six threats to look out for so that businesses can better protect themselves from future attacks. 

The Top 6 Data Security Threats are:

1. Spear Phishing: A form of deceptive email or electronic communication that is targeted at specific company officials who have authority to send or release funds or who have access to key company information.
2. Ransomworms: A type of computer worm in which fraudsters match ransomware with different code called “network-spreading worms” typically targeted at specific verticals. Once the system is infected, the ransomworms encrypt a victim’s data and hold the data for ransom until payment is received.
3. Fileless Malware: Malicious coding that dodges detection (exists only in memory) by avoiding the placement of any file on the target computer’s hard drive.
4. Cryptohacking (or Cryptojacking): A trend where fraudsters secretly mine cryptocurrency through the unauthorized use of someone else’s computer. Fraudsters either force the victim to click on a bad link in an email that loads crypto mining code onto the computer, or they infect a website or online ad with JavaScript code that auto-executes the hack once loaded into the victim’s browser.
5. Password Leaks: A threat when fraudsters get ahold of simple or obvious passwords that allow them to gain entry to critical data.
6. POS Malware: A type of malicious software where fraudsters steal credit and debit card information from POS terminals and systems by reading the device’s memory. Most fraudsters steal this data with the intention of selling it on underground sites rather than using it themselves.

What Can You Do to Protect Your Business?

By educating employees about potential threats, your business will be able to identify the signs of an attack early on and take care of the problem immediately. Increased training will help identify the more sophisticated messages that are becoming harder for normal users to detect and changing passwords regularly and using strong passwords can prevent fraudsters from accessing your business’s system. Consistently updating applications and implementing technology, like firewalls, will also help fight against these types of attacks. 

Learn More on How to Protect Your Business: 

Contact i3 Commerce Technology online or call 1-800-621-8931.

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