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You can reduce cyber crime by protecting data at your business. However, it isn’t as simple as you might hope. You will need to learn about how payments work, the types of data that can be stolen, and how. So, here are some expert tips to get you started in the fight against hackers.
Choose Your Payment Processor Well
Cyber crime affects both your business and your customers in many ways. And many people worry about the security of their financial and private information when using online systems. Banks move money from one account to another to pay merchants. But it’s not always safe. Yet thanks to the quick and easy payment processing available from this website, you and your clients can both use the additional security features that come with using a connected platform.
Never Store Credit Card Data
Your business’s stored data is one of its most vulnerable areas. So, if you’re a merchant, you have to keep cardholder data safe. If you don’t have to, you shouldn’t keep customer information. But customers may choose to save their information, which may be necessary for your business. So, you can keep risk to a minimum if you understand what to keep and for how long. But you should never store credit card information on your business computers.
Always Use Encryption
Your payment processor sends and receives personal information and credit card payment data, so they need to be safe. Most platforms for payment processors have a service for encryption built in. But they aren’t all good enough. More than 2,000 US businesses are hacked every day. So, for the best online safety at your business, you must choose a payment platform that has encryption. Only well-known services can promise encryption good enough for crime prevention.
Choose Web Hosts with SSL Security
SSL certificates make your website safer and more private. Some users won’t even access your blog if it doesn’t have one. Secure servers make sure that only people who are allowed to see the information can see it. This is very important for online shopping safety because information usually goes to more than one computer. Without SSL, there’s a chance that the message could be read, which can contain credit card numbers, email addresses, and private data.
Be Proactive in Your Approach
The dark web is brimming with stolen information that criminals buy and use for things like ID scams and making fake credentials. Hackers sell information to scam artists, illegitimate companies, and even organized crime gangs like the Mafia. Because of this, many eCommerce businesses don’t keep personal information after a transaction. Therefore, you should have policies to purge personal data like names, addresses, and credit card numbers after a sale.
Summary
It’s essential to try and reduce cyber crime, given the volume of hacking each day. And even if you operate a small business, you are still a target. Therefore, you must first use a reputable payment processor, always encrypt data and be careful what data you store on your systems.
