Meeting PCI Requirements the Easy Way

by Kristyan Mjolsnes @ http://www.secureconnect.com . May 28, 2010 . 9:08AM

There’s just no getting around the fact that today’s managers and other business leaders are busier than ever before, and that PCI requirements are more and more complex than they were in the past. However, there are a few ways to meet PCI requirements in a way that is easy and straightforward, freeing up time to focus on core business objectives.

The easier path to meeting PCI requirements would be to contract the services of an external security company that specializes in PCI compliance. Most of these companies are also designed as PCI Approved Scanning Vendors, which means that they have the necessary background knowledge to truly handle your PCI requirements in a straightforward manner.

This has the additional benefit of allowing you to get back to the other pressing matters of business, such as finding ways to increase sales or to manage customers better. By meeting PCI requirements the easy way, you demonstrate to customers that you are able to meet security challenges while still delivering the proper service they’ve grown to expect from you.

Overall, if you’re serious about meeting PCI requirements the easy way, then you really can’t go wrong with contacting an outside security company — get started today!

Internet Security and PCI Services That Don’t Break the Bank

by Joel Fusco @ http://www.secureconnect.com . May 27, 2010 . 8:08AM

When it comes to security, one of the biggest reasons business owners don’t maintain the proper level of data security is that they believe the cost of Internet security services will be very expensive. As much as we would like to have an unlimited budget to build our businesses, the truth is that most businesses operate on a very strict budget that leaves little room for error.

Thankfully, you don’t have to choose between not getting the security you need and breaking your budget. Indeed, there are Internet security services that are truly affordable for just about any business. For a small monthly fee you could have a security system that performs routine security functions, such as spam filtering, virus scanning, and file integrity monitoring all on a secure firewall setup.

Getting the services installed is also not difficult — you can choose an onsite installation by a trained and certified security professional. By choosing professional installation from SecureConnect, you will also be protected from any mistakes, since we check the system before leaving the property to make sure everything is set up the way it should be.

Overall, it truly isn’t hard to get great internet security services that won’t break your budget, but you must get started today! Contact us to get a free PCI consultation and learn how we can help you become compliant and secure your network.

A Quick Tip for QSR Managers Looking to Improve Credit Card Security

by Kristyan Mjolsnes @ http://www.secureconnect.com . May 26, 2010 . 8:04AM

When you become the manager of a quick service restaurant (QSR), it goes without saying that there are a lot of different things on your plate. Unfortunately, this doesn’t often leave enough time for everything to be addressed equally, which in turn means that you will have to be very decisive in the day to day business operations. One area that needs to be made a priority is credit card security. A QSR by definition processes a high number of credit card transactions, which means that the need for PCI compliance is also very high. Fast food PCI compliance doesn’t have to be difficult — this next tip should get you quite far when it comes to maintaining security compliance.

The best tip you can keep in mind when it comes to credit card security is to make sure that information stays encrypted at all times as well as keeping the information limited to only systems and users that have a need to know the information. Many systems in the past were programmed to be rather insecure by default, with security professionals on the team to harden the security to a more acceptable level.

As the manager for a QSR, you will need to check over the security yourself and make sure that the encryption and access control is there. However, you don’t have to do it on your own — you can contract the services of an outside security company to check over the security for you. Either way, you need to put these tips into practice today!

Don’t Delay Getting A Thorough Vulnerability Assessment

by Kristyan Mjolsnes @ http://www.secureconnect.com . May 26, 2010 . 6:05AM

The world of PCI compliance isn’t necessarily black or white — indeed, there’s a wide variety of tools, best practices, and policies that come together in order to form a solid security foundation that all companies will need to achieve in order to remain PCI compliant and process sensitive financial information. If you’re not sure where you need to begin on the road to achieving as well as maintaining PCI compliance, then you will want to start with getting a thorough vulnerability assessment.

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not enough just to run a vulnerability assessment. You will need to have a security professional at your disposal that can actually look at the results of the assessment and correct any problems. Without the proper expertise at your side, you will not get the best results out of doing the vulnerability scan that you could get if you had someone that could interpret the data returned.

Thankfully, getting a security professional that can interpret the vulnerability assessment isn’t difficult at all. This means that you won’t want to delay getting a thorough vulnerability assessment so that you can work on maintaining PCI compliance as well as correcting any problems before they turn into a major issue that threatens your business — get started today!

Creating PCI Education That Sticks

by Joel Fusco @ http://www.secureconnect.com . May 25, 2010 . 8:05AM

One of the biggest barriers to security as a whole is the fact that so many people do not properly understand what it takes to be secure in the first place. They assume that security is only a task for more technical people, but the truth is that everyone within an organization needs to understand basic security procedures and key security policies. If your company processes credit card information on site, it is highly recommended that you create a PCI education program so that all members of the team know what’s required in order for the network to remain as secure as possible.

Yet the problem here is that unless you really focus on PCI education, it’s very difficult to get other members of the team to really embrace the information. This is where an outsourced security company, such as SecureConnect® becomes ideal.  After all, the security company that specializes in PCI compliance education will be well versed in security best practices to the point where they can easily answer any questions your team members have.

If you’re serious about creating a PCI education that sticks, you really can’t go wrong with bringing in an outside security company to assist you as soon as possible — get started today and contact our SecureConnect® team!