Monica Eaton’s Latest Guest Post for PaymentsSource
We hear plenty about data breaches at major firms or banks…but what about the little guys? In her new monthly byline for PaymentsSource, Chargebacks911® COO Monica Eaton tackles the common perception of the data breach, revealing we’re all vulnerable to fraud.
PaymentsSource offers independent and authoritative analysis for every segment of the payments industry. As such, they’re one of the most trusted perspectives for news and information about new developments in the space. Monica is a regular contributor to their PayThink section, which invites payments professionals and thought leaders to share their insight.
As cited in the post, the number of individual data breaches is up 54% compared to just last year. But, of the 3,800 data breaches reported, just eight incidents represented 80% of all records compromised. Clearly, hacks are becoming more common and, when they do occur, they’re getting bigger
“A major part of the problem is simply the abundance of data floating around,” says Monica. “The problem is especially pronounced in the age of cloud computing… Another common problem is security vulnerabilities that go undetected. For instance, old bugs or other issues that never get patched could be used against you by bad actors who exploit them.”
This state of affairs can give off two false impressions. One, that hacks are mostly inevitable, and two, that they’re only an issue for major institutions anyway. Not so, though, says Monica. “Is there anything we can do to address the issue? Fortunately, yes; as a matter of fact, there are several practices I recommend every business adopt to help mitigate the risk of data breaches,” she asserts.
In the post, Monica recommends several best practices that can help protect data and prevent fraud.
