Become a Home Based Travel Agent

Protecting You and Your Clients;

Data Breach and Credit Card Security
By Joanie Ogg CTC, MCC

There is not doubt that working from home, as we do, enables us to have the best of both world’s. We have freedom, flexibility and the pride of running our own business. As credit card security and data breaches continue to become part of everyday life, we had best be on top of our game and assure our clients and ourselves that we are protecting personal information.

Recently, we had a close call with misuse of one of our personal credit cards. I liken the feeling of the threats realization to be like driving too fast on the freeway and suddenly seeing those red lights behind you. You know that sick feeling you get in the deep pits of your stomach and the sinking feeling of dread and fear? Well, getting a call from the credit card company asking if you made charges that you in fact have not, is a similar feeling. Your mind begins to freak out and you start to think about all the what-if’s. What if they have another one of my cards and are attempting to use it now? What if they have somehow found their way into my bank account, my PayPal account, etc. It is NOT a good feeling.

This incident left me thinking about my client’s security and how responsible I was for it should something be breeched. I started to read about it and here are some interesting facts that I can share. We can choose to ignore the responsibility and figure it will never happen to us, or we can use caution. Working from home offers freedom and flexibility, but it also opens the door to data breaches that can jeopardize your client relationships—and your bottom line. Identity Theft 911 CEO Matthew Cullina discusses how to enjoy the benefits of home-based work while protecting data integrity and safety.

The simple facts are, whether telecommuting for your corporate job, selling homemade crafts online, or practicing law from a spare room or selling travel, you are responsible for protecting the personal information — such as names, addresses, birthdates, and Social Security, passport and credit card numbers — of anyone you do business with.

No matter how small your business, or even if you only occasionally work from home, your clients trust you to protect this data—and legislation in 46 states requires that you do so.

A data breach can happen when we lose a laptop with credit card numbers, a cell phone with the same information, unknowingly download a virus, or even leave open a file drawer containing paper records. I know years ago, our credit card number was taken from a receipt from a dumpster behind the hospital we had taken Andy too for an emergency room visit. Sadly, the possibilities of this happening are not uncommon.

What should you (as a business) do in the event you discover this has taken place?

Notify your clients whose information has been compromised immediately. They trust you to manage their information and you must let them know and assist with rectifying the situation as best you can.

What can you do to prevent the occurrence?

Make attempts to separate your personal and professional lives. Some people swear by using two computers, one for personal and one for business. However, this is not realistic for many of us. We often travel and do business on the road, making carrying two computers a challenge at best. The reasoning behind it would be to not use your work computer for personal email, online shopping, Facebook or other activities that might invite hackers. However, it is really important to keep your computer dedicated to you and not allow family and friends to have access unless they work for you. Make sure they understand what’s at stake and how easy it is to accidentally reveal sensitive information.

Look at the information and data that you keep for your clients and safely purge everything you do not need with a paper shredder. If this information is on your computer, consider a file shredder program to erase those files.

Take what’s left and lock it up: Paper files can’t be password-protected, so they’re particularly vulnerable—keep them, as well as external hard drives and computers, in locked cabinets or rooms.

Try to keep desktops, laptops, ipads, smart phones and all other technology tools secure and up-to-date.

Passwords… gotta love em. I swear they are the curse of security but without them, where would we be. Make all attempts to use what are known as “strong” passwords with numbers, symbols, and characters; firewalls; antivirus, anti-spyware and anti-malware programs.

Use the latest operating system and always make sure to download recent security updates and patches. This in itself can be a weekly task!

Here is the one that I have trouble with. It is suggested that we avoid using wireless networking. That is a very hard one to adhere to. Experts recommend using a mobile broadband plan with a trusted service provider. I’m just passing on what I have learned…just saying.

In the event that you need to process credit card transactions, try to use an application that is fully compliant with current regulations. It is also a good idea to check the customer ratings. We are often using vendors for payments of credit cards and this can be scary if the vendor is in question. Carefully research their conditions and privacy terms. Remember, these are YOUR clients you are protecting and yourselves.

Experts say that it is likely impossible to be totally protected in today’s changing world from some type of threat or breach. However, you can be aware and prepared to some degree.

Take some time online and research state laws that apply to your business and where your customers reside. You might consider checking with your insurance carrier to ask about data-breach coverage and cyber-liability options.

Take care to protect yourself, your business and your clients and if something compromising does occur, act fast and confidently to maintain their trust and faith in you.