Dec 12
Checklist: How to prevent fraud from taking place in your business
December 12, 2018
As holiday sales begin to take off, we’d like to remind you about the importance of securing your business transactions, including those made online, as a means to prevent fraud and identity theft.
It’s been proven that 20% of all fraud and cyber attacks endured by companies of all sizes is linked to credit card identity theft during payment processes.
Identity theft increases during high sales volume seasons and begins on Black Friday both in Puerto Rico and worldwide. Preliminary estimates for this past Black Friday showed that most consumers on the island (74.41%) would probably buy both online and in brick-and-mortar stores, 16.33% would buy online and 9.26% would only make their purchases in brick-and-mortar shops*.
Safety standards are vital
For consumers, the ability to assess how safe are the businesses and websites where they conduct transactions is growing increasingly important. No matter the size of your business, making sure that you have buyer information protection protocols is crucial. However, less than 10% of small businesses in Latin America take this aspect into account.
Here are some recommendations to create and implement a cyber security policy in your business:
- Install antivirus and antimalware software on all business computers.
- Implement a policy of regular updates for all your company computers’ operating systems.
- If you have an online store, be sure to perform—with the help of consultants—periodic penetration tests on your systems to identify possible security gaps and fix them immediately.
- Educate your staff regarding the permanent risks to which the business is exposed. Make sure they know the rules for data protection in all their phases.
- Update the technologies, procedures and security standards currently in place in your business. For example, using Secure Socket Layer or Transport Layer Security allows for “secure” transactions on a webpage.
- Make sure that your payment methods are supported by and have security certifications such as PCI DSS Standard [https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/] to safeguard data in credit card electronic transactions. The components of this standard add value in protecting cardholders’ data and are strictly enforced for the benefit of small and large businesses that engage in card payment transactions.
- Offer trusted payment alternatives like ATH Móvil Business and PayPal. Today banks offer their own gateways with special codes for electronic transactions.