Small Business Technology News
Survey: Small Businesses Must Improve Data Security Knowledge
Written by Jenna Weiner
Published: 1/13/2011
A recent survey indicates that data security is severely lacking in many small businesses, threatening their ability to adequately protect themselves against credit card fraud.
As technology continues to advance and increase in adoption during 2011, data security is one aspect of small business technology news that entrepreneurs should pay attention to.
In fact, a recent survey from First Data and the National Retail Federation found that while 86 percent of respondents care about keeping customer card data secure, almost two-thirds, 64 percent, believe their business is not vulnerable to credit or debit card theft or fraud.
It additionally found that respondents were generally unaware of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, which monitors card information security. Forty-two percent of merchants did not know they were obligated to take the group's self-assessment annually, and 41 percent had not even heard of the regulatory changes.
"The finding we found most intriguing was the confusion around the potential liabilities in the event of a data breach. We're confident that continued education in the payments industry will raise awareness of the importance of annual self-assessments and the right mix of data security and fraud prevention tools," said Mark Herrington, senior vice president of global product management and innovation at First Data.
The latest version of the PCI DSS went into effect on January 1, 2011.
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