Introduction
North Country Business Products, Inc. was a recent target of a cyber attack according to Fox 10 news. Their business partners fell victim to a data breach. The attack started between January 3 and January 24, 2019. The attack stole the credit and debit card information of their customers. This would not happen if they are practicing point of sale security measures.
Cybercriminals would often look for point of sale system vulnerabilities. If they found one, they will exploit it and a security breach occurs. Practicing POS security measures will prevent this threat from happening.
You will know how a point of sale security breach occurs in the next section. You will also later know the most common types of POS attacks and how to deal with these threats. You will understand the importance of using SecureBox as well.
A point of sale security breach happens when security policies are not implemented. The management and IT department work hard in putting up security policies. But if the employees are not following these, then a point of sale security breach transpires.
Here are some other reasons why a point of sale security breach occurs:
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1. Outdated software |
A cybercriminal always looks for outdated applications. If the attacker founds one, then that program is vulnerable. This is also known as a software vulnerability. The attacker would then use all possible means to exploit this weakness in the program. Updating your software would prevent this scenario from happening. An update contains bug fixes and upgrades. You can prevent a point of sale security breach from happening by updating your POS software. |
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2. No BIOS security |
BIOS stands for Basic Input and Output System. This handles the initialization of your computer’s hardware parts. This process is also known as booting. You can also configure the boot sequence in BIOS. POS terminals have BIOS as well. A point of sale security breach happens if the BIOS is not secured. Protecting your BIOS with a password is a good start. |
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3. No antivirus software |
Having no antivirus attracts more threats to your POS system. When everything seems fine, it doesn’t justify your security. Cybercriminals would always remain silent with what they do. You will never know if your POS system is secure unless you use an antivirus program. A point of sale security breach occurs if you don’t use an antivirus application. |
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4. No security cameras |
Cybercriminals can also do some physical hacks to your POS system. They will attach a USB drive or a similar device to your POS terminal. This will then load the malware inside the device to your POS machine. The attacker can now do malicious things to your POS system. This includes stealing every debit and credit card number of each customer. A point of sale security breach is likely to happen if your business doesn’t have any security cameras. |
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5. No physical security |
A cybercriminal can enter your business premises if there’s no physical security. Hiring security guards prevent cybercriminals from attaching suspicious devices to your POS machine. You can avoid a point of sale security breach by adding physical security to your business. |
An attacker can perform various ways of attacking POS systems. Most of these attacks are malware-based. Any malicious program that can automate a certain task is malware. Why would a black hat hacker aka cybercriminal perform a step by step attack when they can automate it?
In the world of computing, reinventing the wheel is a taboo. If there’s an existing tool for a certain task, then use that tool. The same principle applies to cybersecurity.
There are three most common types of POS attacks:
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1. Keyloggers |
Your POS system is often the target of keyloggers or keystroke recorder programs. A keylogger is also a malware that records your every keystroke. This will look for entered credit card numbers on your POS system. A keylogger is definitely a point of sale security threat. You can detect and remove this from your POS system by using SecureBox. This amazing security software uses keystroke encryption technology. It encrypts your every keystroke. This makes it hard for cybercriminals to decipher your sensitive data. SecureBox is also an antimalware program so it defeats this spyware as well. |
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2. Memory dump attack |
A POS system is vulnerable to memory dump attacks. This is similar in concept to a memory scraping attack. Any sensitive data that is in RAM or memory, is vulnerable to interception. The attacker can steal your debit and credit card info while it is in memory. You can prevent this malicious attack by using SecureBox. SecureBox is an award-winning intrusion detection and prevention program. The attacker can’t infect your POS system with their malware. SecureBox will also detect this point of sale security threat. |
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3. Network sniffers |
This type of POS attack “sniffs” out the data packets during its transmission. These packets hold your customer sensitive data. This attack can either be hardware-based or software-based. SecureBox is good at thwarting network sniffing attacks. Your POS system is secure from this point of sale security threat as well. |
Conclusion
You are now aware of how a point of sale security breach happens. You also learned the most common types of POS attacks and how to deal with these. SecureBox is an all-in-one security solution for your point of sale security needs. What are you waiting for? Sign up now and get a free demo!
