The steps businesses should take to protect against a credit card breach, according to the AICPA
Home Depot’s recent data breach made the company the latest victim in a recent spate of compromises to the security of national retailers and restaurant chains. These credit card breaches, which in the case of Target has already cost banks $240 million, according to Credit.com, position forensic accountant CPAs as especially critical to the security of big businesses in preventing these costly hacks.
Armed with that expertise of spotting and correcting weaknesses to credit card systems, the American Institute of CPAs has outlined 6 tips for businesses to protect themselves from future security threats.
1. Annually assess all potential IT risks and exposures and perform frequent testing of all controls related to the monitoring and protection of data.
2. Provide frequent and meaningful employee awareness information, like examples of suspicious activity and who to contact.
3. Stay prepared by regularly conducting simulation attacks to test procedures, controls, and employees responses.
4. Implement “EMV” (Europay, Mastercard, Visa) chip card readers and the technology to accept the cards.
5. Have your forensic accountants use comprehensive data analysis and productivity software that support any investigative activities.
6. Work with your forensic accountants to extract and identify all transactions that contain certain risks.
