With the increasing number of people now using the internet for shopping and the new high tech methods of accepting payments online and in traditional ‘brick and mortar’ stores, security has become an important issue for both businesses and consumers. The business community has recognized the need for quality security protocols and has implemented an effective security policy known as PCI Compliance. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a global security standard designed to protect businesses and consumers. The purpose is to protect personal and financial information from such threats as identity theft. When implementing PCI DSS, both the business and consumer benefit.

Below is a list of the benefits to a business when they implement PCI DSS:

1. If a company becomes PCI compliant and they have a breach in security, they will not be fined. The company will be given “safe harbor” status as long as they were PCI compliant at the time the security breach occurred. If a company is sued by consumers, the court will be more lenient on the company if it was PCI compliant. That is, if the company shows they had implemented all of the proper security measures.

2. By being PCI compliant, companies will give customers peace of mind knowing they are protected when they make a purchase. By protecting their customer’s personal data, customer buying confidence will be boosted. Maintaining customer trust creates loyal customers which improves sales. Customers will feel satisfied knowing that their cardholder data is safe when transmitted and stored. As well, the reputation of the company will be solid and the reputation of the brand will remain protected.

3. Businesses will be protected when they are PCI compliant as they will be able to build and maintain a secure business network. Their systems will be less prone to a successful attack and there will be continual security checks to make sure compliancy is maintained.

Becoming PCI compliant is a relatively quick and easy process, depending on the size of the business, their level of technology, and how many threats need to be minimized once the scan has been completed. It is recommended that a business enlist the services of a professional to help them become PCI compliant. An IT security expert can thoroughly assess a business security needs and implement an effective plan that will ensure that the business remains compliant in PCI.

Any company that stores or transmits cardholder account data is a potential target of criminals which is why any merchant or service provider that processes, transmits, and stores cardholder data must be PCI DSS compliant. PCI DSS protects cardholders and minimizes the risk to your business. PCI compliancy allows a business to simplify their security requirements, policies, and plans.

Well informed consumers will only shop at PCI compliant companies. They will know how to identify a company that is PCI compliant; therefore, it makes sense to become PCI compliant. The benefits of implementing PCI DSS far outweigh the personal and financial costs if a security breach occurs.

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Today, businesses depend on electronic transactions and payment processing as their method of receiving payments for their products and services. This is especially true for e-commerce. One of the main concerns online consumers have when making a purchase is the security in which their payment information is processed. Fortunately, technology has improved to ensure a trustworthy e-commerce payment when purchasing goods and services online.

Legitimate e-commerce sites have acquired the latest online security transaction processes and upgrade as new technology becomes available. Online shopping is now much more safe and secure. Advancements in technology have made the online processing secure and convenient. The payment security process includes:

1. Secure Sockets Layer protocol is used which encrypts financial information such as credit card numbers as well as personal information.

2. The data is then sent securely over a SSL connection. The transaction takes place over a secure encrypted connection such as https://. A distinct session key is created and the private and protected communication connection permits encryption of the data. The data becomes scrambled.

2. An SSL Certificate permits the encryption and contains unique and confirmed information about the certificate owner. Unauthorized users do not have the ability to decrypt the data. If an unauthorized user is able to capture the data, he or she will not be able to decrypt the transaction.

3. A payment gateway is an e-commerce service that authorizes payments for e-businesses. It uses SSL 128-bit encoding technology to encrypt and decrypt all the data being sent through it.

When online users look for a trustworthy site to shop, they should look for a trustmark or seal. This tells the user that the webpage has been certified by a third-party that the site uses strict security measures to process transactions. It also verifies that the site has a privacy policy and it is a secure site. A business’ trustmark should be easy to see when users browse the site. The trustmark tells people that the site is lawful and their personal information is safe and secure.

All businesses, including e-commerce sites are mandated to be PCI compliant. This means that the business must follow strict security regulations on how to process credit and debit cards, install web application firewalls, and have the latest software to stop viruses, Trojans, worms, and hackers. Once a business becomes PCI compliant they are verified as meeting a strict code of security protection.

In spite of the downturn in the economy, the practice of online shopping is thriving. Online shoppers want to know that the information they provide to a merchant is going to be kept safe and secure. E-commerce understands that earning the trust of online shoppers is essential to increasing and maintaining sales. Because of the concerns about safety when shopping online, e-commerce has implemented a number of security protocols to ensure the safety of their customer’s personal and financial data. For instance, integrating web security development services into e-commerce operations is essential to establishing a loyal customer base. When a customer is satisfied with the security and reliability of an e-commerce site, both the business and customer will profit.

State of the art data center in Toronto provides managed services, PCI DSS compliant hosting as well as VMWare, managed hosting and IT solutions for companies in order to manage applications that demand the highest levels of security and availability.

With so many threats to computer databases, it has become essential to establish protocols to protect data on business computers. One such method is using VMware Hosting. VMware Hosting is the use of software made by VMware, Inc. that partitions servers into virtual servers with each server having their own individual copy of the operating system.

VMware accomplishes virtualization by using a computer’s hardware resources to serve multiple virtual servers, with each running an independent operating system. VMware hosting differs from regular hosting packages where you require resources such as hardware. The benefits of VMware hosting have made it a critical and reliable component of business data management and security.

The benefits of VMware hosting as a reliable security solution include:

1. Businesses want to have peace of mind knowing that if there is a catastrophic event, their data will be protected. VMware hosting is the solution to ensuring reliable data protection. These high-tech data centers have amazing back-up facilities that are far greater than anything any office would have. VMware hosting companies provide a high tech data center with remarkable back up facilities thereby effectively securing data during any type of situation such as power outages. One can quickly and efficiently back up the data on different virtual servers across different locations. As well, it allows one to access the data 24 hours a day/ 365 days a year.

The best VMware hosting services have reliable backup systems and will automatically perform recovery operations in the event of a threat. One may not even know there was an incident until they receive the report from the VMware host detailing what occurred. The data center facilities include fire prevention and suppression, controls for temperature and humidity, and advanced network and physical security systems to protect the computer and their data operations. Business owners and managers will be able to relax knowing that their data is protected at all times.

VMware Consolidated Backup systems perform such functions as integrating with existing backup tools and technologies, performing complete or partial file backups of virtual machines, perform full image backup of virtual machines, and manage backups in a central location. VMware providers offer 24 hour monitoring of hardware, operating systems, firewalls, internet connections, and power circuits. It ensures that your information is safe from malicious programs and hackers.

Because the server is virtualized, data is more protected because it is generated across different networks. Each VPS is configured using VMware making it as good as a physical server. There is more data safety because you are generating data across a virtualized network that can be monitored or controlled from one location. The need for an operating system and physical server is basically eliminated. As well, because VMware supports live migration, the entire virtual server can be moved with no downtime.

VMware Hosting is efficient and valuable hosting that will keep your data safe through managed security, disaster recovery solutions, and managed IT services. It is a proven method of data security.

As credit card fraud is increasing, businesses are adapting PCI compliance. In addition, VMware ensures absolute protection for important data. A high degree of security is being offered to other managed services, so customers may be able to obtain a peace-of-mind.