** This article was co-authored by Scott Schober, President and CEO of Berkeley Varitronics Systems and author of Hacked Again, and Courtney Theim, Multimedia Journalist at SecureWorld.
With the holiday shopping season underway and Black Friday looming large, the average American consumer is expected to spend $935 per the National Retail Federation. Estimates for a larger payout to retailers both in-store and online is poised to see totals topping $117 Billion in the United States. Last year, consumers in the United States spent over $5.8 Billion just on Black Friday and Cyber Monday alone. Spending in 2016 is expected to beat last year's shopping season record. However, the holiday shopping season is also prime season for hackers and fraudsters to take advantage of unsuspecting shoppers both in the retail stores and online.
While customers need to be prepared to shop smart, retailers can also take proactive steps to ensure their customers stay safe and continue to patronize their store. If you're running a business boasting Black Friday deals this fall, keep these cybersecurity tips in mind as you prepare for the busy season ahead:
Your Point-of-Sale is your Point-of-Entry
Your POS system is often the entry point to customer theft and data siphoning. It's important to update their Point of Service operating systems and all associated software applications. Regular security patches will thwart older exploits, so update as soon as patches are available.
Make sure you're also carefully monitoring who you share the REFUND password with for POS terminals. All it takes is one corrupt employee to initiate a refund to their personal card. Check your statements and settlement reports daily for questionable charges.
Encourage your cashiers to perform quick photo ID verification checks if customer lines are not too long. This extra step will scare off frauds and help eliminate costly chargebacks to your business.
And finally, investing in the technology to have up-to-date POS systems means better security. When you accept ApplePay and AndroidPay, you'll attract a more lucrative customer base that's tech-savvy, but most importantly, you'll protect your customers' private information. Having a system that also accepts chip and pin credit cards fares better for security than the traditional magnetic swipe, where skimmers can lie unsuspecting.
Make the Internet Your Friend
The Internet can be the breeding grounds for cyber attacks, but it doesn't have to be. When customers come into your store and immediately connect to the free WiFi, make sure it is separate from your business WiFi. This ensures that you don't get hacked by having an open source access point, but also that your POS system is kept safe on another network. Better yet, use WPA2 and and only provide legitimate customers with the WiFi password. Change it often!
If online shopping is a huge part of your business, encourage online customers to utilize two-factor authentication for all online financial transactions. Two-factor Authentication will prevent hackers from compromising accounts and passwords, as they need this additional secure one-time code sent to their smartphone.
Bassam Al-Khalidi, Co-CEO and Principal Consultant of Axiad IDS, says that online retailers need to be buying the right SSL certificates for the right needs. It's equally important to have proper certifications for all pages of your site; as the customer navigates through your products and your online store, security shouldn't be an issue among the different pages.
Education is Always Key
Educate all your staff throughout your organization about cybersecurity and let them be part of the solution and not part of the problem.
It's also helpful to increase physical security in your store, and to explain why it's needed. Send a message to cyber hackers that you take security seriously throughout your business, and make sure your employees care about this just as much as you do.
As hackers and data breaches grow more prolific, customers can experience numbness to attacks, or simply pick up their new debit card and move on. It's important to educate both retailers and consumers about how to shop and spend safer, to prevent cyber criminals from getting in in the first place.
By Scott Schober and Courtney Theim.
