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How Can Your Business Avoid the Starwood Hotels Credit Card Breach?

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide warned of the credit card breach issue as cyber criminals designed malware to steal credit and debit card information from POS systems.

This is an additional attack in a recent string of hotel chains to acknowledge credit card breach threats and investigations. The malware that hit Starwood affected certain restaurants, gift shops and other point of sale systems.

The malware was designed to collect certain payment card information including cardholder name, credit card number, security code and expiration date.

Good news is that compromised credit card holders will not be liable for unauthorized debit or credit card charges but the onus is on the cardholder to spot and report any unauthorized charges.

How can you protect your business from credit card breach?

  • Use an updated POS system or protect your current POS – Point of Sale systems have changed but there are still systems out there running on outdated Windows XP. If using an older system, you should meet with your IT consultant team or IT department and discuss how to “Sandbox” your environment. A Sandbox environment will limit an application to its intended functionality while not allowing it access files and resources beyond its initial and intended functionality.  This makes it hard for malicious software to compromise the system. Code Signing – Apple imposes strict code signing requirements on application developers, which maintain high standards among individuals creating applications. Before creating a project, developers must obtain three code signing certificates from Apple: a development certificate, a distribution certificate, and a Developer ID certificate. These strict requirements maintain the utmost security standard for applications running on iOS.

 

  • Proactive update and review – The greatest defense against breaches is proactive update and review of your infrastructure. If you implement every imaginable security measure on a POS system, you never fully eliminate your security risks but it is still the best defense. The recent Target breach, the IT team in charge of cybersecurity failed in consistently walling off sensitive data and removing the default accounts of unused POS devices. This resulted in one of the most major breaches in POS security. Only a POS system with the most up-to-date security can have the ability to safeguard a business from the ever-changing and incessant attacks of cybercriminals.

The recent Credit Card Breach at Starwood Hotels shows why companies need to adopt a POS security system that eliminates opportunities for hackers and cyber criminals.

365 iT SOLUTIONS is Toronto’s leading IT consulting firm delivering Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services.

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Industry Insights IT Solutions Managed IT Services

Healthcare IT and managed services work together for success

Healthcare IT is helping the industry to grow as they embrace technology with the help of managed services providers.

Healthcare providers need to understand how healthcare IT and managed services work together including the benefits to their business and success. With advancement of technology, healthcare companies can now keep up and deliver better patient care while maintain security. This has been a main reason with more healthcare organizations are turning to managed services providers to lower costs and improve productivity.

There are many IT consulting providers that provide these services and tech support services however there are certain managed services providers that work specifically within the healthcare sector.

Here are some important points to consider when picking a managed services provider if you are in the healthcare sector.

Guarantee response times and SLA

When working with managed services providers, it comes to down to providing fast response times. You should always ensure you are offered 24/7 guarantees response times and a written service-level agreement (SLA).

Business continuity plan

Every business needs a business continuity plan or you are putting your organization in jeopardy.  You should be looking at your managed services provider to develop a recovery plan from major outages or natural disasters. They can create redundant systems as well as automatic failovers. As a healthcare organization, you cannot afford to lose valuable medical data in the event of a disaster.

Proactive IT security

If you do business in the US, you need to comply with HIPAA, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.  If you do business in Canada, you need to comply with PIPEDA, The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. Failing to meet regulations may result in huge fines, serious penalties, loss of contract and even the withdrawal of your license to operate. Your experienced managed services provider will offer proactive IT security services that include identity-based security and encryption as well as user authorized access control, data accountability and integrity.

 

As Toronto’s leading IT consulting firm, 365 iT SOLUTIONS offers a Complimentary Network and Security Audit to give businesses a real picture of their IT infrastructure, IT security and IT investment. We are successful at aligning healthcare IT and managed services.

Our Canadian team delivers industry leading Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services. 365 iT SOLUTIONS works to find the most cost-effective solution to optimize your IT infrastructure, and ensure you will never face surprises or unforeseen costs.

If your business needs proactive network management, network setup & installation, IT consulting, IT systems maintenance, remote IT support, network and server support, network infrastructure, or wireless network design & deployment, you can count the 100% Canadian team at 365 iT SOLUTIONS.

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