Cyberattacks are rampant nowadays, and businesses are surely not spared. POS (Point-Of-Sales) Systems are progressively being targeted by cybercriminals due to their possession of valuable and confidential consumer data, such as their payment credentials. If your POS system does not have proper precautions in place, the consequences could be disastrous – the hacker would be able to easily obtain your customers’ credit/debit card information to conduct fraudulent transactions. To make things worse, some expert hackers manage to make their movements untrackable. Keep yourself guarded against such attacks, and scroll down to find out more about POS system security threats you should take seriously!
Unauthorized access to the POS system
A common POS security issue is an unsecured network, where cybercriminals can more easily hack into systems and steal confidential customers’ information. One detective way to get around this is to critically review transactions taking place and track any suspicious activity to follow up on. Of course, preventive methods are always preferred. We have two preventive ways you can adopt to circumvent. Firstly, fingerprint logins can be used to ensure only authorized personnel. To make sure your customers’ data is even more impenetrable, it would be preferred if your POS system has advanced security tools such as end-to-end encryption, where confidential data is only comprehensible to third parties who have the encryption key. An example of a payment system that offers such high protection is Millennium Payment Systems, where fingerprint logins and end-to-end encryption are just some of the security features offered.
Phishing
You have probably heard the term ‘phishing’ being thrown around nowadays. But what does it mean? Phishing is an attempt to get people to reveal sensitive information, usually by making the other party believe that they are authorized personnel. In this case, phishing would mean an attempt to get your employees to reveal information regarding access to the POS system. In such instances, preventive measures are extremely important. Train your employees to be alert to signs of phishing to not leave your data compromised. This could mean verifying the individual’s identity by corresponding directly through another platform, not opening suspicious emails from addresses with jumbled letters or numbers, as well as not opening any links that might result in a bug in the system. It is also important to ensure your system is up to date for security features to be implemented and act as a firewall between potential cybercriminals and your POS system.
Malware
Another popular way cybercriminals steal credit or debit card-related information is through malware. Malware is malicious software installed by hackers in the application, typically in an attempt to resell confidential information. POS malware usually looks for any loopholes in the security system and gains access to an associated network, and not the system directly. Some way to prevent this from happening is to allow only specific applications to run in the POS system, which reduces the likelihood of malware being installed. It is also important to monitor your network and detect unusual network behavior or information moving around.
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