Johannesburg, 01 Mar 2018
About 30 million South Africans recently had very sensitive details hacked - we're talking ID numbers, addresses, account numbers - pretty much everything the average Joe hacker needs to steal all your money, says Attie van der Linde, GM at ACS.
The irony is that this breach happened just after IBM Security and Ponemon Institute released the 2017 Cost of Data Breach Study: Global Overview, in June 2017. This document argued that South Africa had the highest probability of experiencing a data breach within the next 24 months.
This breach, and countless before it, have made South Africans more than aware and paranoid to the point that we won't let our credit or debit card out of our sight.
There, is, however, some good news: when the merchant swipes a card through a system that has been annually verified via the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS), consumers can rest assured that their card details are securely processed each time they swipe.
The PCI Security Standard Council is a global body and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) certification is a protective measure that aims to optimise the security of credit and debit card transactions, protecting cardholders against the misuse and abuse of personal information.
Merchants must comply with PCI Security Council standards that are improved annually, and ACS assists its merchants with these requirements. This provides security, and peace of mind, for consumers, merchants and point-of-sale providers who process cards so people can buy goods and services.
Although PCI DSS has been around for quite some time, not every merchant plans for these certificates and compliance requirements in their budgets. This is a serious issue, because cyber criminals keep ahead of the curve, and attacks can come from anywhere in the world, thanks to increasing connectivity and mobile technology.
The cost of a data breach as reflected in the 2017 Cost of Data Breach Study.
Global Overview
It is clear that cyber breaches cost companies and cardholders millions of rand each year. Collectively we all have a responsibility to ensure we keep the data secure.
Attie van der Linde is GM at ACS, an Altron division that has achieved its PCI-DSS certification year after year.
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