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Posted November 2, 2020
Holiday shopping is getting underway. For retailers, this means a large number of credit card transactions, and a large amount of customer data being stored…and all of that is a big target for cyber criminals. There is also the risk of fraudulent transactions, especially online; and this year in particular, many businesses are selling online that were not before or doing a much higher percentage of their business online.
This makes security more important than ever.
PCI stands for Payment Card Industry, and the standards are set by the PCI Security Standards Council. Founded by the major credit card providers, the council sets standards and educates merchants, vendors, and financial institutions on best practices and how to implement the standards. PCI compliance, thus, refers to ensuring that systems meet those published standards, which are a basic requirement to accept credit cards. For some vendors, it’s possible to offload PCI compliance onto a payment processor. Others, with a larger volume of sales, may find it easier to handle compliance themselves. For those vendors, a data breach is a particular problem as the liability rests with them, not a third party processor. Vendors are always responsible for ensuring they are compliant, even if they’ve moved some of the security functions to the ‘cloud’ or payment processor
PCI compliance requires meeting certain standards, which are different for different size companies. What retailers need to worry about is PCI Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). These standards require that all merchants:
These are, of course, overall best practices and the standards themselves go into far more detail. However, retailers don’t need to worry about standards for the design of payment terminals, or PA DSS, but they do need to ensure the solution they choose will address the standards, effectively. . The most important thing is to keep cardholder data as secure as possible. How Does eCommerce Impact PCI Compliance? eCommerce generally makes PCI compliance a little harder. The council has specific, and highly technical, best practices that involve everything from validation to encryption to testing. The ideal situation is for your systems not to even store the credit card data itself. Many customers enjoy the convenience of having a stored payment method, but this is not great from a security perspective and adds complexity that must be appropriately addressed. You need to properly evaluate all the technology you use and make sure that all security controls are functioning as designed. For many smaller companies, it’s easiest to outsource PCI compliance. Failing that, make sure to get expert assessments performed to ensure that you are fully compliant and any gaps are identified and a corrective action plan is created with timelines and budgets. What Are the Consequences of Failing to Comply? The PCI Security Standards Council does not levy penalties for failing to comply with standards, but individual companies you are dealing with might. The Payment Card Industry has established fines of up to $500,000 per incident for security breaches when merchants are not PCI compliant. In addition, it is required that all individuals whose information is believed to have been compromised must be notified in writing to be on alert for fraudulent charges. You could end up with consequences up to and including losing your ability to process credit cards. More important, though, the standards are well-designed and have been updated over the years to minimize your risk of a data breach. Experiencing a data breach can ruin your holiday season. You may end up facing fines and lawsuits, and your reputation will be damaged. Two-thirds of holiday shoppers worry that their credit card information will be stolen. The same study shows that 78% said they would avoid shopping with a retailer that had been hit; and you have to notify customers of breaches, so keeping them quiet is not an option. This means that winning customers back after a breach can be a lot of work, and requires excellent customer service. It’s far easier to be compliant in the first place and reduce your risk of a breach as much as possible. The risk cannot be completely eliminated, but with a proper security plan and compliance program, it can be minimized. How Does PCI Compliance Assessment Work? Compliance starts with an assessment, and many companies do one annually. The Security Council provides various tools to help retailers assess compliance and set up their systems. However, a more thorough assessment performed by an experienced professional is far better. Such an assessment might include vulnerability scanning and penetration testing to look for problems, as well as valuable insights from incidents and lessons learned. It also includes training to ensure that personnel are more aware of potential problems and how to mitigate them. Assessment will give you a thorough report on where your security protocols, including your policies as well as your infrastructure, are falling short and give you a starting point to work towards improvement. Assessment should not be one and done but should be repeated at planned intervals to ensure that you are not slipping. Assessment should also not be the only thing you rely on, but rather should be part of an ongoing process to continually improve your security options. What is PCI Compliance Certification? Some companies need to be externally certified for PCI compliance, depending on the number of transactions performed, while others must complete self attestation. When obtaining a certificate of compliance, you should not use certificates or documentation that doesn’t come from the Security Standards Council. The council offers a variety of official reporting templates and forms. These include Attestations of Compliance and Self-Assessment Questionnaires. These forms are used to demonstrate compliance and must be completed truthfully and in-line with your existing systems and controls. Attestations of Compliance are often provided to customers, but are of limited use to retailers. While gaining customer trust is important, most customers don’t know what an AoC is or why it is important.
GreyCastle Security provides PCI Assessments based on the most recent standard, which is PCI-DSS 3.2. Our assessments meet the requirements of the PCI Council, help you find compliance gaps, and help you develop a risk mitigation plan. We can’t prevent all risk of data breaches (and anyone who claims they can should not be trusted). But we do this all the time and we can ensure that your eCommerce sites and point of purchase machines are properly secured and compliant. PCI compliance is vital for all retailers and is even more important in the current environment, where customers are eschewing cash and far more likely to order goods online. To find out how to get a PCI assessment that can provide the insights needed to effectively manage risk, prioritize spend, and help you stay compliant, contact GreyCastle Security today.
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Copyright © 2022 GreyCastle Security. All Rights Reserved
Ho Chin is Chief Financial Officer at GreyCastle Security. In this role, Ho leads Finance, HR, IT and Professional Development. As part of the executive leadership team, Ho works to establish the company’s overall strategy and ensure proper execution of the supporting initiatives pertaining to the above areas of responsibility.
Prior to joining GreyCastle Security, Ho led finance and administrative functions at multiple private equity and venture-backed portfolio companies across multiple industries. Ho holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University in Centre County, Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Dan Kalil is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Board Chairman at GreyCastle Security. In this role, Dan provides vision, leadership and strategies that drive GreyCastle Security’s position as an industry leader. With an emphasis on customer success, Dan’s profitable growth model leverages a customer-centric business approach that balances employee wellbeing and social responsibility.
Prior to becoming CEO, Dan served as the company’s Chief Strategy Officer, during which he supported multiple acquisitions and helped the organization achieve substantial sales growth. In addition to serving as CEO at GreyCastle Security, Dan continues to hold the position of Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Assured information Security (AIS) in Rome, New York, a company he co-founded in 2001.
Over the course of the last 22 years, Dan has been committed to advancing the state of cybersecurity and has played an instrumental role in the identification and development of critical, next-generation cyber capabilities. He has held positions in almost every facet of cybersecurity, beginning as a computer forensic examiner and progressing through the management and executive leadership ranks. In addition to co-founding AIS, Dan has facilitated multiple cybersecurity startups, raised investment capital and has served in various lead and support roles toward the acquisition of five companies in the last eight years.
Dan has a bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity and a master’s degree in Cybersecurity from Utica College in Utica, New York.
Michael Stamas is an entrepreneur, board member, Vice President and a founder of GreyCastle Security. With more than two decades of experience in the technology sector, Mike pairs his management and business development skills with a deep understanding of cybersecurity. Mike brings a unique brand of risk-based advising to GreyCastle clients and prospects.
Mike holds certifications in numerous security and technology related areas, including the Department of Homeland Security and other security technologies like Symantec, Cisco and Microsoft.
Mike plays an active role in his community and serves as a board member and Vice President of InfraGard Albany as well as an advisory board position with the Capital Region YMCA.
Mike has been recognized for his numerous achievements through various honors including the Albany Business Review’s prestigious 40 Under 40 award.
Dan Maynard serves as GreyCastle Security’s Chief Operating Officer, where he currently leads Sales, Marketing and Legal.
Dan has enjoyed a 30+ year career in the Information Technology and Telecommunications industry, during which time he has held various leadership positions for organizations such as Rochester Tel/RCI, Citizens Communications (Frontier), PAETEC Communications, IntegraOptics, tw telecom/Level3 and Centurylink.
In addition to various voice and data technology platforms, he possesses a strong background in leadership development, sales and marketing leadership, transformational leadership and strategic planning. Dan has a thirst for knowledge and as a committed lifelong learner, he encourages and supports professional development initiatives for his teams and continues his involvement with Vistage International.
Dan holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, where he was selected as a member of their Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.
When not at work, Dan enjoys traveling, golfing, attending Utica Comets hockey games and relaxing in the Adirondacks on beautiful Canada Lake with family and friends.
Dan Didier is the Vice President of Solutions and board member at GreyCastle Security.
Dan has been a cybersecurity practitioner for more than 20 years and uses his knowledge and experience to develop cybersecurity solutions that ensure readiness and preparedness.
Dan received his bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications from SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Utica, New York, and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a master’s degree in Information Assurance from Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont.
Our Computer Incident Response Teams (CIRTs) have responded to hundreds of breaches, intrusions, malware infections, thefts, employee investigations, fraud cases and other incidents. Our highly-certified experts have extensive experience in command, coordination and correction of incidents in nearly every industry throughout North America, from local businesses to Fortune 500 international conglomerates.
Francesca LoPorto-Brandow is Director of Culture at GreyCastle Security. In this role, Francesca leads all social responsibility efforts and partnerships and develops effective strategies that promote organizational-wide behaviors and attitudes consistent with a culture of safety, inclusion, teamwork, motivation and high-performance.
Prior to this role, Francesca was Director of People & Culture at GreyCastle and with her leadership, the company’s culture has been recognized by Inc. Magazine as a Nationally recognized Best Workplace, Albany Business Review Best Places to Work and Albany Times Union Top Workplaces.
Before joining GreyCastle Security, Francesca worked as an OD consultant and focused on strategic culture change at The Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group, Inc. for more than six years. There, she facilitated client education sessions, coached leaders and teams, developed and executed consulting interventions and served as strategy project leader on various client engagements. Her work has taken her into Fortune 100 companies and across borders including Panama, Singapore and beyond.
Francesca is a Lean Six Sigma–certified Green Belt, a proud YWCA-GCR board member and in 2013, she coordinated and emceed the inaugural TEDx Troy—a livestream of TEDCity 2.0. Since 2012, she has coordinated and emceed the Troy 100 Forum, a biannual forum for government, religious and community leaders to discuss issues vital to the future of Troy, New York.
Bilingual in English and Italian, Francesca holds a bachelor’s degree in Management and Technology from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Lally School of Management & Technology. She was awarded Cybersecurity Recruiter of the year North America in 2017 by the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards.
Jamie Aiello is Senior Vice President of Services and Product Management at GreyCastle Security. In this position, Jamie is responsible for leading a high performing and well-balanced team that is ultimately responsible for the identification, selection, execution and successful performance of our company’s diverse portfolio of cybersecurity offerings.
Prior to joining GreyCastle Security, Jamie has held leadership positions with Annese and Associates, ConvergeOne and BlueSky IT Partners with a focus on delivering cost effective information technology solutions for companies across multiple verticals.
Jamie holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York, a master’s degree in Business Administration from Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina and a master’s degree in Computer Information Systems from University of Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona.