Point-of-Sale Systems Vulnerable to Malware, Says Level 3 Threat Research Labs
Caution should be used by those who use a credit card at a local retailer, gas station, restaurant or bar, because the black market demand for user and credit card data has made point-of-sale (PoS) system compromises a lucrative business,…
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said a blog post from Level 3 Threat Research Labs Friday. “As PoS systems are targeted with greater frequency, new families of malware are developed and extended at a breakneck pace.” High-profile compromises are often either a result of lax security policies and procedures or a very sophisticated targeted attack, the blog said. “With PoS malware continuously evolving and becoming more difficult to detect, the security community, as well as retailers, has a real challenge on its hands.” Merchants should have their PoS and support systems behind a properly configured firewall, with logs and alerts enabled, the blog said. Merchants should also disallow remote access to PoS networks, control access within local networked environments and ensure their software is up to date, it said. PoS malware is lucrative for malware developers around the globe and U.S. merchants are transitioning to chip and PIN technology at a slow pace, it said. “As more American merchants implement chip and PIN for credit card transactions it will be interesting to see how the malware developers adapt.”