Data Security Breaches Hit All Time High

May 6, 2009 - PRLog -- Data Security Breaches Hit an All Time High

Data theft has exploded in 2008 with the total number of records compromised standing over 35 million – exceeding the four preceding years combined.  And that trend is continuing.  A report released in March from the Identity Theft Resource Center® (ITRC), a nonprofit which supports and educates consumers on identity theft, states that breaches in 2009 already amount to over 1.5 million records compromised with more unreported cases on the horizon.

There have been some big names in the news like Heartland Payment Systems and RBS Bank who have been hit hard with big breaches involving millions of records being compromised.  However according to Visa’s® website a majority of data breaches are actually from small and medium sized businesses.

“Often we find there’s a ‘see no evil’ mentality.” explains Dustin Niglio President of Payment Logistics Limited, a data security and credit processing company headquartered in San Diego, CA, “This happens because small business owners don’t see their peers in the news leading to a lack of data security preparation under the assumption ‘I’m too small to matter’ or ‘data thieves only attack larger companies’ – this makes these businesses easy targets for data thieves.”

The Payment Card Industry’s Data Security Council, an association comprised of security experts from major card brands including Visa®, MasterCard®, Discover® and American Express® have assembled a set of 12 guidelines known as Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS).  The standards are meant to help businesses strengthen their security systems.  Compliance with PCI-DSS is mandatory for all businesses accepting credit or debit cards however this can prove a daunting task for business owners.  

Mr. Niglio, an expert in the field, has complied a check list for businesses to help understand some of the often confusing guidelines

•   Move one step at a time.  If you tackle it all at once, you’re bound to miss something
•   Start with the simple stuff.  Starting with things like restricting access to non-business related websites can help streamline the process
•   Understand how information moves.  Making a map of where valuable consumer and business data travel can help pin point potential weak spots
•   Update security patches.  This relatively simply step can be one of the most important.
•   Don’t do it alone.  Working with your credit processor or a data security company can bring about valuable feedback and help catch missed items

Although PCI-DSS is an invaluable tool to help secure businesses Mr. Niglio warns compliance isn’t the end.  “Becoming compliant with PCI-DSS is important, staying compliant is crucial.  Understanding how viruses and worms like Conficker work can help identify potential targets on key systems and allow businesses to take proactive steps to stop breaches before they happen.  Investing in outsourced data security solutions can help implement this process.”

There’s good reason to invest in ensuring your data is protected.  The fines for a breach can total to over $100,000 depending on the amount of records compromised.

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Payment Logistics provides credit processing and data security solutions to small and medium sized businesses nation wide