PCI DSS Provides 12-Step Process for Cyber Security

January 23, 2017January 23, 20171 Comment

John Kindervag is vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, and a former qualified security assessor (QSA). He says that business owners should start thinking about PCI compliance as something like a 12 step program. It’s not bulletproof, but it addresses the tendency of each website owner to see security as someone else’s problem.

Kindervag adds, “No one likes to be told what to do. But when you ask people which PCI requirement they think should be omitted, they are forced to admit that they are all important.”

The PCI DSS offers a sensible starting point for any security program. But companies concerned with the safety of their website and their customers’ information shouldn’t stop there.

Read the full article here:
http://blog.trust-guard.com/12-step-program-for-cyber-security/

Which online business services do you need?
Protection from Hackers & More Sales? Trust Guard
Customer Ratings & Reviews? Shopper Approved
Live Chat & Customer Support Software? Rhino Support
A Significant Increase in Conversions? 4x Buyer Protection
Free Privacy Policy? FreePrivacyPolicy.com

Check out these awesome articles!
President Trump Says No Computers Are Safe from Hackers!
Five Conversion Specialists You Should Know By Name
Five Ways to Combat Cyber Crime
Is Your Mobile App Hack Proof?

President Trump Says No Computers Are Safe from Hackers!

January 20, 2017January 20, 20172 Comments

Newly inaugurated President Donald Trump says that “no computer is safe” when it comes to keeping information private. He expressed growing skepticism about the overall security of online communications. His administration is likely to use the unsafe internet often for everything from day-to-day planning to international relations.

trump_-_safe_computers

Trump rarely uses email or computers, despite his frequent tweeting. Websites that aren’t scanned for vulnerabilities like trojans, viruses and other malware are cyber security accidents just waiting to happen. PCI compliant security scans check for more than 75,500 known vulnerabilities used by hackers to disrupt e-commerce and steal consumer identities.

“You know, if you have something really important, write it out and have it delivered by courier, the old-fashioned way. Because I’ll tell you what: No computer is safe,” Trump told reporters during his annual New Year’s Eve bash. “I don’t care what they say.” With only 14% of e-commerce entities passing their initial security scan with Trust Guard, he’s not far from the truth.

Read the complete article here:
http://blog.trust-guard.com/president-trump-says-no-computer-safe-hackers/

Cyber Security Can Get Personal

January 9, 2017January 9, 20171 Comment

In 2013, Brian Krebs taught someone a lesson in cyber security. He had earned the unwanted attention of a man calling himself The Fly, or Flycracker, later revealed to be a 26-year-old career thief named Sergey Vovnenko. Krebs tracked Vovnenko to a forum where he brokered the sale of credit card information. Krebs found out that Vovnenko was going to do his best to damage Krebs’s reputation – maybe even land him in jail.

The plan was to have heroin delivered to Krebs, then to call the police. It didn’t work out that way. Krebs called the police first, notifying them of Sergey’s plan. The heroin came a few days after he gave his statement to law enforcement. Krebs turned it over to the cops and went to work, trying to find Vovenko.

Vovnenko fits a profile Krebs says applies to many in the world of information crime: young, arrogant and frankly sadistic, with a chip on his shoulder. Investigators are prone to boil down credit card stealing operations and mass identity thefts to simple greed. But often, it’s much more than that. “These guys have such huge egos,” he said. “What are they after? How much is enough? You make $100 grand a month, is that not enough?”

Krebs thinks some hackers just really enjoy messing things up and attacking people or doing it as a power trip.

Krebs went to work rectifying the issue after things got a little too personal.

Read what happened here:
http://www.onlinewebsitesecurity.com/cyber-security-can-get-personal/

Check out these awesome articles!
Five Ways to Combat Cyber Crime
Better Stacked Than Hacked
Two Proven E-Commerce Strategies for Your Business!
Are You Gambling with Hackers?

Are You Gambling with Hackers?

December 28, 2016December 28, 20164 Comments

If there is ever a contest between a website that is not receiving a security scan on a daily basis and a hacker, no matter how proficient, the hacker will always win. It’s like pitting a one-year-old baby (the hacker) against a plate full of spaghetti. It won’t be pretty, the cleanup could take days, and the spaghetti will always lose.

But how many of us, as online business owners, knowingly or unknowingly, risk opening up our websites up to hackers? We gamble that out of the 30,000 websites that are destroyed or debilitated every day, for some reason, hackers will continue to leave us alone – even though we’ve done nothing to keep them out.

gambling

There is an online service that monitors for more than 75,500 vulnerabilities used by hackers to make a mess of online businesses. During the monitoring process, if any vulnerabilities are found, the company sends a report to the business owner with instructions on how to fix the issue. Once fixed, the website is safe from unfriendly visitors trying to ruin the lives of business owners and their online visitors.

Trust Guard, the leader in websites security, runs security scans for thousands of websites for owners from all over the world. These business owners don’t gamble when it comes to their website’s security. They understand the risks associated with malware, trojans, and viruses that hackers can leave. They have spent too much and effort to risk losing it all to a hacker. They don’t want to face the economic, legal and/or reputational consequences that would come if their website were hacked.

The truth is, however, that there are still hundreds of thousands of website owners that are still gambling unnecessarily with their website’s security. Are you one of them? If you are, you have two choices: Continue to trust your luck or ask Trust Guard to scan your website on a daily basis against online security threats.

Read the complete article here:
http://www.onlinewebsitesecurity.com/gambling-online-website-security/

Check out these awesome articles!
Top 15 Characteristics of Successful Customer Support Agents
Don’t Ignore PCI Compliance Regulations
Do You Like Playing Russian Roulette with Hackers?
Hackers Guess Passwords Based on the Personal Information of Individuals

Do You Like Playing Russian Roulette with Hackers?

December 28, 20164 Comments

Business owners who never scan their websites for security vulnerabilities are playing Russian Roulette with hackers.

russian_roulette

Russian Roulette is the practice of loading a bullet into one chamber of a revolver, spinning the cylinder and then pulling the trigger while pointing the gun at one’s own head. There is a one in six chance that the bullet will kill you. It’s an activity that is potentially very dangerous.

There are people out there that love to take risks. They go climb cliffs, swim in oceans, and walk into dance clubs leaving very little to the imagination. Hobbies aside, some people take unnecessary risks with their online businesses. More than 30,000 websites of all shapes and sizes fall prey to hackers every single day, holidays included.

But for some unexplainable reason, there are those who believe that, although they have done nothing to protect themselves from viruses and malware, getting hacked could never happen to them.

Read the full article here:
http://www.onlinewebsitesecurity.com/playing-russian-roulette-hackers/

Want awesome content? Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!
Top 15 Characteristics of Successful Customer Support Agents
Who Is Protecting Your Website?
Your Website Needs a Lifeguard!
Trolls & Hackers are Bullies!

Who Is Protecting Your Website?

December 20, 2016December 22, 20164 Comments

Just as State Farm, Geico, and Farmers protect our vehicles, Trust Guard, the leader in website security, protects our websites. Our websites, just like our cars, are vulnerable to thieves. There are several ways to steal or damage a car. People run into cars – even when they aren’t moving. People break the windows of cars and steal tires and rims – even when they are parked at home.

If we didn’t have car insurance, we’d have to pay for all of those expenses by ourselves. Even when we don’t use the insurance, we feel safer and more protected knowing that it was available to us just in case. We should use the same line of reasoning when we consider who should be protecting our websites.

Read the rest of the article here:
http://blog.trust-guard.com/protecting-your-website/

Feel like reading more?
Your Website Needs a Lifeguard!
Generate More Sales & Traffic with Pinterest!
Don’t Ignore PCI Compliance Regulations
Trolls & Hackers are Bullies!

Your Website Needs a Lifeguard!

December 17, 20162 Comments

You wouldn’t swim in a public swimming pool or at the beach without a lifeguard on duty, would you?

Well, you shouldn’t spend time on a website that isn’t secured by Trust Guard either. And if you’re an online business owner, you shouldn’t let your potential and current customers run around on your website, confidently sharing their personally identifiable information with you, without Trust Guard their to protect them.

To ensure that your online visitors know that you have an experienced lifeguard on duty, Trust Guard provides business owners with a trust seal. It’s a small digital image that can be placed on the front page, footer, and checkout pages to show concerned citizens that your site is periodically scanned to keep shark-like hackers away from your site. Several cases studies have proven that when people on your site see the Trust Guard Security Scanned trust seal, 15% more of them (on average) will buy from you.

Just like beaches with lifeguards are always busier than beaches without lifeguards, so are websites that use Trust Guard.

Visit Trust Guard today to access their reasonably priced, guaranteed, online lifeguard services.

Read the full article here:
http://blog.trust-guard.com/website-lifeguard/

Don’t Ignore PCI Compliance Regulations

December 16, 2016December 16, 20165 Comments

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) has been in existence for years, requiring any merchant that processes, transmits, or stores customer’s cardholder data to achieve PCI compliance. The PCI compliance process comprises of 12 high-level PCI DSS requirements. Getting your website scanned and then repairing holes found in the security report is just one of the regulations.

With the effort involved, entities may question whether they should allocate their time and financial resources or just ignore PCI compliance altogether. However, in the case of PCI compliance, the benefits ultimately outweigh the drawbacks. The risks associated with ignoring PCI DSS requirements can range from loss of reputation to financial ruin.

What Happens If You Do Not Follow Regulations?
1. You May Suffer Financial Losses from Which You May Never Recover
Merchants ignoring the growing adoption of PCI DSS do so at their own peril as the penalties for non-PCI compliance are severe. Non-PCI compliant merchants and payment processors can face fines from $5,000 to $500,000, depending on a variety of factors. In 2006 alone, Visa reported imposing $4.6 million in fines.

Additional costs and repercussions include:

Notification, card re-issuance, and credit monitoring costs for affected parties
Forensic investigation and remediation costs
Increased rates charged by banks and/or processors

2. You May Lose The Ability To Accept Credit Cards
Credit card companies may revoke the right of a merchant to process credit card transactions. This can be the cause of a “virtual death sentence” for many organizations.

3. You May Loose Clientele Due To Negative Reputation
Reputational damage, lost business, and reduced partner/consumer confidence and trust are just some of the after-effects of a data breach. Reports demonstrate that 69% of consumers would be less inclined to conduct business with a breached entity, which can even lower share price and impact the ability to raise capital in the future. It is evident that the cost of keeping PCI compliant regulations is pale in comparison to the potential costs and fines associated with data breach.

Read the complete article by following this link:
http://blog.trust-guard.com/ignoring-pci-compliance-regulations/

Check out these awesome articles!
Trolls & Hackers are Bullies!
Are Your Websites’ Windows Locked?
Hackers Are Bullies!
Trust Guard’s Black Friday BOGO

Trolls & Hackers are Bullies!

December 12, 20166 Comments

Trolls and hackers are similar to each other in several ways. Both species are annoying and enjoy causing problems.

I’m not talking about the trolls that try to upset everyone in online forums with rude and obnoxious posts. Although, who’s to say that that’s not how hackers spend their free time. Here are five ways that hackers compare to trolls.

Living Conditions

Both are cave dwellers or live under bridges. The point here is that hackers keep to themselves. They ostracize themselves from society and spend their time alone in dark basements until they strike it rich at other people’s expense. Then they move into a plush penthouse with exceptional security. In both cases, they separate themselves from the rest of us and usually live in somewhat unhealthy, secluded environments.

Thinking of Them Incites Fear

Just the thought of coming into contact with a hacker should make you want to shrivel up and hide. They can access sites that are not secure. That’s why so many online businesses stay as far away from them as possible by scanning their sites for vulnerabilities that hackers use to get into sites and mess things up.

They Destroy Things

Hackers are good at making beautiful websites completely shut-down or go to a different URL. What was once a well-oiled machine, when touched by the hand of a hacker, is quickly destroyed. Like a troll that loves busting your vehicle in half, or throwing you half-way across the river, hackers like to…

Read the rest of the story here:
http://blog.trust-guard.com/common-traits-trolls-hackers/

Check out these articles!
Are Your Websites’ Windows Locked?
Hire Bouncers for Your Digital Night Club!
Hackers Are Bullies!
Trust Guard’s Black Friday BOGO

Are Your Websites’ Windows Locked?

December 5, 20164 Comments

Here are two tips to help keep your website’s windows locked. These tips are not comprehensive. They are for business owners who want to reduce the chances that their websites will be compromised by hackers.

Protect your devices

Install updates, especially for your software, operating system, and your browser as soon as they’re made available. The most important kinds of software updates you can make are those for the operating system itself and for your browser. This is because Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and the rest are common points of entry for attackers. You should also update password managers and other apps on your system.

Scan your site for security threats

Part of PCI compliance is the continual scanning of your website/server for unlocked windows otherwise known as vulnerabilities that hackers use to sneak into your website and take whatever they want. Trust Guard is the leader in website security. Their Security Scanned service will check for more than 75,500 potential issues. If they find any holes, they will provide you with a detailed description on how to fix the problem. You should repair the issue as quick as possible to lock your website’s windows.

Watching the movie “Masterminds” showed us that even people who aren’t rocket scientists can often figure out a way to get what they want. Did you know that hackers break into 30,000 websites a day? Certainly, not all of them have a four-year IT degree from a respected university. Scanning your site for vulnerabilities and installing updates in a timely manner are two simple things that you can do to keep your website’s windows locked which will keep you in business for many years to come.

You can read the full article here:
http://blog.trust-guard.com/websites-are-like-banks-with-unlocked-windows/

To visit Trust Guard to learn more about online website security and keeping your website’s windows locked and secure, click here!

Want more awesome content?
Improve Your Mobile App Security
Hackers Are Bullies!
Show Your Customers that You Appreciate Them!
Blog from Payment Card Industry Recommends Business Owners Create a Secure Culture

Security. Privacy. Support.

Giving app users more reasons to love app developers

Tag: hackers