Abtek’s own Tami Cohorst stops by MLive again–this time to discuss Apple Pay, CurrentC, and the power that consumers collectively wield as more players enter the payments processing arena.
On the way data is handled across mobile payment options, Cohorst says, “All that data is housed somewhere. And this is the problem with the security breaches that we see.”
Read the full article here.
Nobody’s immune to credit card breaches. Not major retailers–not even technology like CurrentC which positions itself as the perfect foil to Apple Pay and yet, days after being announced as such, finds itself at the center of a possible data breach.
We’ve learned this year through the very-public stumbles of marquee brands like Home Depot, Target, and Jimmy John’s that nobody is safe from a data breach. We’ve also learned that the consequences of data breaches are long-lasting: Home Depot now faces at least 20 class-action lawsuits, while it’s come to light that customer credit card data poached from a Target data breach has surfaced on a Russian website.
No company is immune to the possibility of a data breach. No matter how well your organization prepares for this kind of attack, a data breach will quickly uncover the weaknesses in your security defense plan. It’s crucial that any company experiencing an attack uses it as an opportunity to correct these vulnerabilities before the next one happens. As cybersecurity expert Joe Adams says, “It’s not a question of if you will be hacked, but when.”
After a data breach, your company needs to take the following 6 steps:
The internal response team is your company’s first responders who are trained and prepared to take action when this kind of security breach takes place.
Members of the response team should include:
Department heads need to be a part of the team because a security breach affects the entire organization.
After a breach, don’t automatically assume you should shut down the network before the response team has a chance to investigate. Doing so could cause you to lose valuable data and stall your investigation.
Investigating a breach doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time to collect large volumes of data and discuss the attack with IT andnetwork security personnel. It could take several days to determine the full extent of the data breach.
You may have to publicly announce the breach before you have all the facts. Although some people understand that there’s a period of discovery before an announcement can be made, they’re still anxious to learn the facts.
Don’t just draft a rapid response plan, practice it. Look at how well you responded to this breach and execute “fire drills” for the next one.
Many data breaches can be traced back to companies that are running insecure or outdated POS systems–make sure your system is up-to-date.
When your customers’ personal information is breached, so is their trust. However, your rapid response and transparent communication can help control the damage.
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The internet is currently abuzz about CurrentC. So what do you need to know about it, besides the fact that it’s clearly a play on words (“currency”)? Here are simply 10 facts.
• CurrentC is a proprietary QR code-based system developed by the Merchant Customer Exchange consortium–which includes these retailers.
• Some retailers include Dunkin’ Donuts, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, CVS, and 7-11.
• In this system, the QR code is referred to as a Paycode and it plays a pivotal role in how payments are scanned and processed.
• As a result, CurrentC does not feature NFC technolgy.
• Actually, not having NFC technology–in addition to requiring information such as a user’s social security number and driver’s license number–does not bode well for the payments system.
• From Business Insider also comes a description of how CurrentC. vs. Apple Pay vs. a traditional swipe:
Here’s how it works: When it’s time to pay for something, you get a QR code served to you on a payment terminal. You then open your phone, open the CurrentC app, then scan the QR code to pay. It can also work in reverse, where you open your phone, and you have a QR code, and the retailer scans the code.
Compare that with Apple Pay, which works like this: When it’s time to pay, take out your phone, hold it to the payment terminal, then use the phone’s fingerprint scanner to pay, and you’re done.
Or, compare both with credit cards: When it’s time to pay, take out your credit card, swipe it, sign, and be on your way.
• Even though Apple Pay can seem a little convoluted when it comes to user experience–it is integrated into an existing customer payment flow–whereas CurrentC complicates it.
• Many iPhone and Android fans from Reddit have converged on Twitter under the #PayItSafe hashtag to spread awareness about the dangers of mobile payments technology that lacks NFC.
• Which is all to say that if you’re a business that wants to minimize the hassles and headaches of being an early adopter with payments processing technology that you may not have the resources to develop and scale throughout your business, go with someone like Abtek.
• Meanwhile, the Electronic Transactions Association, has blasted the CurrentC technology as being anti-consumer and anti-competitive.
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