PCI Security & Fraud Prevention

Aperia Solutions has driven PCI compliance attempts in the interest of a huge number of vendors, giving self facility devices and help work area support to elevate consistence levels with less interruption and expenses.

We have joined with Aperia to give your business an extensive arrangement of PCI compliance devices and the help essentially to approve your business’ PCI consistence.

PCI applies to all associations or dealers, whether small or large transaction, that accept, transmit or store any cardholder information.

Merchants that do not comply with PCI DSS may be subject to fines, card replacement costs, costly forensic audits, brand damage, etc., should a breach event occur. Many acquiring banks are issuing fines for merchants who do not comply with PCI.

For a little upfront effort and cost to comply with PCI, you greatly help reduce your risk from facing these extremely unpleasant and costly consequences.

The individual card brands are requiring that the Merchant Banks/Processors implement individual PCI compliance programs to educate merchants on compliance and ensure that they meet PCI compliance requirements.

They’ve required that all Merchant Banks/Processors have a plan in place to ensure that all of their merchants obtain and maintain compliance with the standard.

Most of the breaches you hear of in the news are large retailers, but many people do not realize that over 80% of compromises occur at small merchant locations.

In case of any queries ,contact us on Aperia toll free number between time period of 9:00AM EST- 7:00PM EST, Monday-Friday, at (251)-923-386341 or you can also access your merchant portal by visiting on www.cardreads.com site.
The login credentials are as follow:

UUser Name: 14-digit Merchant ID Number, i.e., 848700166XXXXX or 848700189XXXXX
Password: Last (5) digits of the MID plus the merchant’s UPPERCASE State abbreviation, i.e., XXXXXGA

Aperia’s also offers language translator support including French, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese!

Most banks have broken down the annual/quarterly cost for validating PCI compliance into monthly installments so that the price is easier to digest.

All Acquirers are responsible for ensuring that all of their merchants comply with the PCI Data Security Standard (DSS) requirements, therefore, all processors are required by the card brands to implement a PCI compliance program.

We’ve partnered with Aperia based on the fact that they provide the best value for our merchants and provide full support in helping you in the compliance process.

The time it takes to achieve compliance is dependent upon how you process credit card data. If a vulnerability scan is not required, achieving compliance can be completed in a short amount of time.

Merely using a third-party company does not exclude a company from PCI compliance. It may cut down on your risk exposure and consequently reduce the effort to validate compliance. However, it does not mean you are exempt from PCI. All merchants are required to complete the SAQ annually at a minimum.

It also addresses internal security practices and procedures behind handling credit card data. One of the leading causes of data breaches is due to employee error or carelessness when handling sensitive information – this is why proper policies should be in place and a formal Security Awareness Training should be conducted.

Your business must protect cardholder data when you receive it, and process charge backs and refunds. You must also ensure that providers’ applications and card payment terminals comply with respective PCI standards and do not store sensitive cardholder data.

You should request a certificate of compliance annually from providers.

Utilizing a compliant payment application is a best practice towards achieving compliance, but PCI compliance also covers data security, physical security and network security.

It is extremely difficult to complete the standard PCI Self Assessment Questionnaire without assistance – it was written in a very technical language. We have partnered with Aperia to assist you in the compliance process and offer support as you are completing the SAQ.

Many of the questions in the SAQ require that you have a written Security Policy and a formal Security Awareness Training in place. Without a resource to assist in building the required Security Policy and conduct the formal training, this would be a very time consuming and costly task to complete.

Yes. All businesses that store, process or transmit payment cardholder data must be PCI Compliant.

A network security scan involves an automated tool that checks your systems for vulnerabilities. The tool will conduct a non-intrusive scan to remotely review networks and Web applications based on the external-facing Internet protocol (IP) addresses. The scan will identify vulnerabilities in operating systems, services, and devices that could be used by hackers to target the company’s private network.

As provided by an Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV’s) such as Aperia, the tool will not require you to install any software on your systems, and no denial-of-service attacks will be performed.

Note, typically only merchants with external facing IP address are required to have passing quarterly scans to validate PCI compliance.

If you electronically store cardholder data post authorization, or if your processing systems have any internet connectivity, a quarterly scan by a PCI SSC Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV) is required.

Every 90 days/once per quarter you’re required to submit a passing scan.  Merchants and service providers should submit compliance documentation (successful scan reports) according to the timetable determined by their acquirer. Scans must be conducted by a PCI SSC Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV). Aperia is a PCI Approved Scanning Vendor.

Call Aperia and they’ll help you understand the vulnerabilities found on your scan report, if any. They’ll make recommendations on how to correct any problem areas, and arrange additional scans if needed.

• Simply call Aperia toll-free between the hours of 9:00AM EST- 7:00PM EST, Monday-Friday, at (251)-923-3863 or visit cardreads.com to access their merchant portal using the following credentials:
  • User Name: 14-digit Merchant ID Number, i.e., 848700166XXXXX or 848700189XXXXX
  • Password: Last (5) digits of the MID plus the merchant’s UPPERCASE State abbreviation, i.e., XXXXXGA
• Aperia’s Help Desk also offers interpreter support for a variety of languages including Spanish, French and Mandarin Chinese!

Yes, home users are arguably the most vulnerable simply because they’re usually not well protected.

Adopting a ‘path of least resistance’ model, intruders often zero-in on home users – exploiting their ‘always on’ broadband connections and typical home use programs such as chat, Internet games and P2P file-sharing programs.

Aperia’s scanning service allows home users and network administrators alike to identify and fix any security vulnerabilities on their desktop or laptop computers.

http://www.cardreads.com/