Suppose your business had an ecommerce Web site where it sol

Suppose your business had an e-commerce Web site where it sold goods and accepted credit card payments. Discuss the major security threats to this Web site and their potential impact. What can be done to minimize these threats?

Solution

E-Commerce Businesses that accept credit cards must be cautious about credit card fraud.

As a E-commerce business Owner, I should know that accepting credit card payments is pretty much a necessity. It\'s probably a routine daily activity I don\'t think much about. However, overlooking some simple security risks could be a costly mistake leading to stolen customer information, lost revenue, fines, and even having your credit card acceptance privileges revoked.

In fact, when it comes to processing credit card transactions,E-Commerce businesses must follow The Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards. These rules make sure that all companies that process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment to protect customer credit information.

Whether you own a restaurant, store or another brick-and-mortar business, here are five things to keep in mind if your business accepts face-to-face credit card transactions.

As a E-Commerece business owner me and my staff don\'t know how to properly handle a credit card transaction. This leaves my business vulnerable to fraudulent transactions and the possibility of legal action.

Not noticing fake credit cards

When I have a long line of customers it\'s easy to overlook things about the credit card that indicate it\'s a fake.

Pay attention to that strip. scratched or damaged magnetic strip could be a tip-off that a card\'s a fake.

Criminals will often times scratch or damage the magnetic strip to force a cashier into entering in the credit card manually if they were unable to encode the credit card information on the magnetic strip, ask for proper identification before completing the transaction.

Matching signatures, names on cards, and ID

Another often overlooked security issue when accepting credit cards is a missing signature.

For purchases with a card present, always check for the signature on the back of the card, If there\'s no signature, it\'s a good idea to ask for identification when taking face-to-face credit card payments.

Don\'t accept a card payment from someone who can\'t produce a photo ID, or if
the name doesn\'t match the card.

Storing customer credit card data to charge later

Do you store credit card data for later charging? If so, I could be violating the Terms of Service of our merchant account.

Credit card data is only allowed to be stored in very specific and secure ways.

Allowing this data to be compromised can put you in great financial risk of both fraud liability and stiff fines.

today\'s software helps secure customer data. When businesses use software for customers to enter their own credit card data (via a tablet or a portable credit card machine a staff member hands to a customer), something called a data lockout occurs.

Cash refunding vs. refunding the card

Do I accept returns of items first paid for on a credit card? If credit card returns aren’t processed properly, your business could lose money.

Many businesses allow a customer to make purchases on a card, and then return the item for cash as opposed to refunding it back to the card. The original purchase may be completed using a stolen credit card, with the fraudsters then returning the items to get the cash.