A hacker recently made his way into an online retail selling business, causing the e-tailer to lose not only $10,000 in sales, but also over 50,000 credit card numbers. The e-tailer could face over $1 million in fines because they weren't PCI compliant - a requirement for any business accepting credit cards.

Businesses need to understand the magnitude of their decisions regarding security from the start. Laying a strong security foundation for an online business from the beginning is crucial. Anti-virus and firewalls should be put into place on day one. Anything that's saved to a machine rather than a server can be lost if a virus attacks. We advise most customers to set up a server and automate the backup procedure for all the PCs on a network.

PCI Compliance is serious business. If a business isn't compliant, its privileges to accept credit cards could be revoked. Therefore, filling out the PCI forms correctly and honestly - not just answering "yes" to every question - is crucial. Some customers are intimidated by the questionnaire. Will your IT provider help you with the questionnaire?

Qualified and approved third party vendors that offer compliance assessments is a cost-effective benefit to support the IT needs of small businesses. We can provide security packages for a fraction of the cost.

CRN Magazine contacted Vintage IT Services for help with the content of this article.  To read the full article published in CRN click here.