Data Is Money

To Every Small Business Owner…

Today, speaking to small business owners in New Orleans, I’ll be covering security and fraud trends, along with strategies discussed in my latest book, Digital Money! 

(Don’t have the book? Click the picture to get it on Amazon)

For instance, CATO, corporate account take over, is rarely discussed in security articles. But in the small business world it is potentially your number one threat. CATO is the process of taking over an account by tricking end-users who handle money and have the authority to transfer funds. When someone in accounts payable receives an email from the boss telling them to make a wire transfer, chances are they’ll do it. After all, it’s there job.

But what if that message came from someone pretending to be the boss, and that the actual boss? Will the Accounts Payable person know it?

More fraud is taking place online. While many argue against the value of chip technology on a credit card, news reports are telling us card-present transaction fraud is down by 54%. That’s because it’s not easy to create a fake credit card with a chip in it.

But what about not-present transactions? No card means no chip. Whether it’s CATO or making purchases using data collected on the server, it’s costing companies. On one end, it’s the rising cost of PCI compliance and card processing fees. On the other, it’s fraudulent wire transfers that can wipe out a small business account in seconds.

Both can cripple a company. The fees keep rising, and the transfers are not necessarily insured. Today we’ll be discussing what to do about it before it’s too late.

© 2016, David Stelzl