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Can You Grow Your Small Business While Maintaining Data Security?

In 2015, PCI compliance and data security in general are monumental concerns for most business owners.  So many transactions, financial or otherwise, occur on the internet – and, for that reason many businesses risk having their sensitive data compromised if they don’t take proper precautions.  Sometimes, this data security breach scare even forces business owners back into the Stone Age, as it were, operating with limited internet connectivity and using a physical credit card terminal for their electronic payments, rather than a virtual gateway or a software-based solution.  It works, sure – but, it isn’t nearly as effective as doing everything online.  So, business owners are caught between a rock and a hard place… What are they supposed to do?  Really?

It Makes Sense to Want to Retreat

Business owners reverting to using old-school technology instead of internet-based solutions for fear of having their data stolen makes sense in some regards.  A common argument is that the older technology worked fine before the advent of internet-centered solutions, so why would it work any differently now?  And it’s true that operating in a bubble doesn’t slow your business down from its starting pace – but, it does keep it from hitting its full potential.  Some business owners are okay with this.  Their businesses are small, and they don’t anticipate being in business another few years anyway.

Do You Have the Potential to Soar?

There’s another class of business owners who do anticipate being in business for another twenty years or more; they hope to grow their companies while remaining off the grid.  Simply due to the nature of business today, this idea is not possible to sustain.  The internet is not only the way of the future; it’s the way of today.  That brings us to an important question:

Is it possible to use the power of the internet (and technology at large) to grow your business while keeping data safe, or, are the two mutually exclusive?

It is possible to do both, in fact.  You’ll just need to brush up on the latest terminology and begin to utilize it yourself.  Luckily, many business owners (and data processors) share your concern for data security, so they’ve put forth the resources to make sure their own solutions are the best at keeping your data safe (PCI compliant, in industry terms).

Get Your Head In the Cloud!

If you’re familiar with tech in the slightest, you’ve heard the expression the cloud before.  The cloud isn’t an actual cloud, of course – it’s an offsite server (or servers) that store your data offsite, away from your business.  Storing your data in the cloud does at least one thing for you: It keeps data off your own server, where you have to manage data security yourself, and onto a separate server, specifically so you won’t be held liable for data breaches.  Cloud-based data-storing solutions are also great because if something catastrophic happens to your business – for example, a fire breaks out and everything’s lost – your data is still safe.  Depending on what you choose to store, a cloud-based storage solution can be a real lifesaver and can help you begin anew with much less hardship than you would have incurred otherwise.

Tokenization is More Than Just a Token Gesture

As well as utilizing a cloud-based processing solution, where your data is stored off-site, you can choose to utilize a tokenized solution, where your sensitive data, regardless of where it’s ultimately stored, is converted into meaningless streams of characters called tokens.  The tokens can be called upon for later use but are absolutely useless to criminals if the sever containing them is breached – and, that means your data is quite safe when it’s tokenized.

The reason more people don’t use the power of tokenization for data security is simply because it’s still a relatively unknown player in the security game.  It’s only been around since about 2010, and it’s only become a buzzword recently, as Apple has adopted it as one of its primary security features in its Apple Pay digital wallet program, which is still slowly expanding.

A Cloud-Based, Tokenized Solution

Century Business Solutions offers a virtual gateway that is not only cloud-based, but includes tokenization options as well.  That means when we protect your data, you’ll never be held liable in the very unlikely event of a data security breach, because not only will your data be located securely offsite in a virtual vault, but you’ll have options to tokenize that data as well, adding a nearly impenetrable extra layer of security to your business’ valuable data.

So, Can You Grow While Remaining Secure?

Given what you know now, it’s absolutely possible.  Keenly skilled hackers and fraudsters will frankly always exist, but you oughtn’t let that deter you from expanding your business.  If you choose not to use the power of the internet to your business’ advantage, you’ll be losing a lot of potential business, from the crowd who does all business over their mobile phones with mobile payments to just the casual internet user who likes to shop online every once in awhile.  It’s foolhardy to take your business online and take no precautions about security – but, take the ones mentioned here and you’ll be on a great path to success.

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