Mobile Pay Security Risk is too Large to Manage Internally

The Sony Pictures web attack may have led you to question whether your own business was secure and if the information your clients provide via different payment methods can be breached, causing mistrust between business owner and vendor.

With mobile payments becoming one of the hottest markets in tech, is this method of payment secure? In the last few months, we have seen Apple vie for this growing market with Apple Pay, as well as Snapchat’s Snapcash. There are also rumors that Facebook will soon offer a service for users to send money to each other.

How do you know if this method of payment is safe? You don’t without entrusting your business to a third-party IT professional. If it isn’t, you could compromise a client’s customer record, and you can be open to legal exposure.

Here are some tips to secure mobile payments and m-commerce:

Hire an IT vendor. Times are changing and internal IT staff do not know enough about security and are probably learning themselves. You have to hire a firm that knows about proper procedure and threat assessment.

Don't just pay when things break. Make sure your IT infrastructure is patched and kept up-to-date, audited and tested for security holes each month. The businesses that don't do this and go the inexpensive route are easy targets.

Follow your industry compliance and rules to the letter. The old rules used to be "just look like you are making an effort and you'll be fine." The Home Depot breach is showing us this is not the case with a number of vendors named in ongoing lawsuits which leave them at risk for a part of the expense related to the breach.

Purchase data breach insurance. A few years ago you couldn't even buy such a thing, by 2020, research indicates almost 90% of all businesses will be required to have it. It is well worth the investment. Even if you're not the cause of a breach you may have to defend your actions in court. Many of these policies cover such a defense.

Don't deploy one-time equipment. At one time it was smart in business to buy a big technology purchase and write it off over a number of years. A stand-alone device purchased only a year ago that hasn't been updated or monitored may already be breached and you wouldn't even know it. Technology that's cloud based allows a business to locate, monitor, manage and quantify broadband internet connections.

Erik Knight is the CEO of SimpleWan.