‘Tis the Season to be a Prudent Retailer

‘Tis the season to be shopping, as some might say. Holiday seasons are very good for retail businesses, with increased traffic in both online and brick-and-mortar stores.

Unfortunately, business is good for cybercriminals during these busing shopping times, too – and, as a result, retailers need to ensure that their physical and cyber resources are safe and secure.

This is never an easy task, especially at busy times like Thanksgiving and Christmas. However, a few extra steps to increase security can go a long way.

Here are a few tips to become a more prudent retailer:

1) Awareness, awareness, awareness

Businesses that increase their staffing seasonally, as with the Christmas holidays, should ensure that their seasonal (and regular employees) are aware of security impacts for the business. Employees should be told about processes such as using strong passwords, keeping terminals locked when not in use, refraining from writing down passwords or sensitive information, etc.

2) Principle of least privilege

For seasonal workers, retailers should have good on-boarding and off-boarding processes in place. These times of the year can be very busy (hence, the need for extra staffing). This is not a good time to let critical processes slip through. Ensure that seasonal staff only have limited access to cyber resources; ensure they are given adequate training on security aspects of the business, both physical and virtual; and ensure that accounts are disabled and/or removed during the off-boarding process.

3) Physical security

Brick-and-mortar retailers should ramp up physical security measures during the holidays. Special attention should be paid for Point of Sale (POS) terminals. Any signs of tampering should raise concerns. Also, credit card terminals should be regularly inspected for credit card skimming devices.

4) Trust but verify

Fraudulent check and credit card usage can increase during the holidays. (Read more...)