Protecting Your Lifeline: Employing Good Practices with POS

In your Street Corner store, your POS system is your lifeline. If your POS system is not protected, your store is open to data theft, data loss, inability to track sales, etc. Keeping your POS system working properly is essential to a healthy profit margin for your business.

Here are some tips to ensuring your POS system is protected:

  • Use uninterruptible power supplies or UPS: Power spikes and surges to POS can cause significant system damage. UPS acts as an intermediary device between your POS system and your store power outlets. It is a cost-effective and efficient way to protect your valuable equipment.
  • Refrain from using your POS system to access email and surf the net: Hackers, malware, and spyware use “back doors” to access your most valuable company information. By restricting the use of your POS system, you are in effect “closing” the door to malicious individuals and programs. Enforce strict policies to discourage employees from using POS systems to check their email and surf the internet
  • Install antivirus and anti-spyware programs to your POS system: By establishing “walls” to your store’s information access systems you can stop spyware and virus programs from infecting your system. Spyware and viruses that access your system can cause crashes, data loss, and theft of vital profit information. Installing antivirus and anti-spyware programs can stop data breach.
  • Again “Stay off of email and keep from surfing the web”.  Microsoft has ceased all support and updates of Windows XP. Windows XP is far more susceptible to hackers than Windows 7 or Windows 8.  What can happen is; Hackers can get into your system and get any information on your computer including passwords you are presently using or have used in the past. There is the possibility they will be able to see all of your emails, Facebook account information, and anything that you type. You may also want to read this article, “Seven Safety Tips for People Sticking with Windows XP“.  And plan for an upgrade to Windows 7 sometime in the future.

For more information on how to keep your POS systems protected, contact the experts at Street Corner.