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It’s just another night out with family and friends as you stop and have a bite to eat at your favorite local restaurant. Everything seems normal as the waitress comes over and hands you the bill.
But this restaurant has adopted the new technology in place at many establishments, and the waitress points you to the new payment system that is on your table. There you can pay your bill by yourself - no longer handing important credit card information over to a complete stranger.
New technology is not always proven right from the start. These payment systems are like an invitation to hackers as they start targeting more and more restaurants.
But, what can restaurants do to protect themselves against hackers?
In an article by Cyber Scoop, we learned Chipotle recently suffered a major security breach; hackers have also gone after Baja Fresh and Ruby Tuesday.
In regards to the Chipotle attack, hackers used a phishing email describing a nonexistent overdue payment and encouraged the person to open the attachment. The email sender was listed as Michael Smith, an imaginary manager for a nonexistent company named Slazzer LLC.
In all, more than 20 U.S. based hospitality companies, which include hotels and restaurants, have been successfully hacked since the summer of 2016.
Restaurant owners are trying to find answers as they continue to make patrons safe.
A recent survey conducted by NextAdvisor.com asked 500 people, 18 years and older, what they would prefer to pay with when going out.
Another study by Toast showed that consumers like to use their credit or debit card 76% of the time when they go out to restaurants - especially when they are paying for higher cost items versus a smaller item, like a cup of coffee.
Each transaction is putting your business and customers at risk if you are not using the proper technology, which is the biggest reason why credit card processing continues to be a major area of interest for hackers that are looking to access customer payment card information. Out of all the credit card breaches made public in the last several years, not many (if any) companies were truly PCI compliant.
Now that restaurant owners know hackers are coming after them more frequently, it’s up to them to better prepare their companies.
When you own a business, it not easy protecting against every little thing that might come your way. Business owners tend to worry about the bigger things like payroll, making sure employees are happy, and that the business is making the money.
The last thing owners may think of is security. Hackers, of course, take advantage of this weakness. In their recent article, Chain Storage, lists four ways to beef up your cyber security now that attacks are on the rise in the industry.
Hackers are always trying to find a backdoor to your data, which means trying to protect the data is that much harder. For companies without a dedicated IT Security Team, considering using the services of a managed security services provider is a logical option.
The truth is, we live in a world where cyber threats, credit card hacks and identity theft are the new norm. It’s a reality that every business needs to come to grips with.
When you’re shopping for an MSSP to partner with, consider the challenges they may have faced or may currently be facing,“If they were once a solution vendor.” The more questions you ask, the better your eventual decision will be.
For more information on how to make use your data is secure, check out our white paper Protecting the Data:5 Tools to Fight Against Today's Threats