Canadian Retailer - Fall 2014 - 4

mEmBER INSIghtS GueSt coluMn

PRotEctinG thE
PoS to PRotEct
youR buSinESS

publisher

AS retailers, we live for loyalty and understand

editor-in- chief

that our customers can only base theirs on a
foundation of trust. With recent attacks on major retailers, consumer data has been put at risk,
resulting in a concern regarding our vulnerability to the threat posed by digital thieves.
Many of the recent breaches have resulted
in an increased focus on the security of Point
of Sale (POS) devices. These devices are typically the front line
for processing both customer payment data as well as loyalty program data that can include customer Personally Identifiable Information (PII). As a result, any compromise of these devices at scale
can yield to the attacker not just credit card information but also
a wealth of other customer information including names, phone
numbers, e-mail addresses, and physical addresses.
While the motivation for these attacks appears to be financial
gain, many of the techniques used share similarities with attacks
that are designed to steal intellectual property. Like Advanced
Persistent Threat, or APT attacks, the retail breaches have involved lateral movement to gain broad access to backend systems,
implanting custom malware, and stealing data.
The best practice to defend against these attacks is to keep the
software and operating system on your POS device up to date. This
includes applying critical software updates for both the OS and applications in a timely fashion as well as running the most modern
version of the operating system available for your POS device.
Point Of Sales devices are prime targets for attackers, not only
because they are the front line for collecting information from customers, but because they are also often not as protected as backend systems.
Another preventative measure is to ensure hackers are limited
in their ability to move across systems. This will also dramatically
reduce the risk of damage from an attack. There are also a number
of other measures that you can take to protect your POS devices
against compromise that every organization needs to be aware of.
Loss prevention used to be an area that specialized in physical
observation and human intelligence. Today the challenges have
become far more of a digital and virtual nature. It's a brave new
world and it requires new talents to protect the assets of the enterprise and our consumers.
Dave Rodgerson
Senior Industry Business Development Manager
Microsoft Canada

cANADIAN REtAILER | fall 2014

FALL 2014 | vOLUME 24 ISSUE 5

Diane J. Brisebois
s e n i o r v i c e - p r e s i d e n t,
m a r k e t i n g & c o m m u n i c at i o n s

Sharon Armstrong

Sean C. Tarry
(416) 922-6678, ext. 286
starry@retailcouncil.org
art direction

Scope Media
www.scopemedia.ca
contributors

Stuart Foxman, Andrew Hind,
David McPherson, Robert Price,
Dave Rodgerson
d i r e c t o r o f p u b l i c at i o n s

Bob Phillips
rphillips@naylor.com
project manager

Kim Davies
kdavies@naylor.com
sales manager

Bill McDougall
bmcdougall@naylor.com
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www.naylor.com
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Canadian Retailer - Fall 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Fall 2014