During the holiday shopping season, Target suffered one of the largest security breaches in history, seeing the theft of 40 million accounts and 70 million customer records containing personal information. In the month following, Target’s customer traffic hit the lowest point in three years, according to a March story in USA Today. The company’s sales fell more than five percent and its net income tumbled to $520 million, as compared to $961 million during the same period in 2012.

The company has since worked diligently to restore its customers trust and people are returning to the chain, although some promise to never use their credit or debit cards in the store again.

The damage from data breaches like Target’s, (which was only 1 of 600 reported breaches in 2013, according to Business Solutions Magazine) is fast, far-reaching and sometimes irreparable. So how can a company protect itself from these types of incidents?

A point of sale system can help ensure compliance, protecting a business from breaches and the costly fines and damaging investigations that accompany them. Systems running on the Windows platform can achieve PA-DSS (Payment Application Data Security Standard) certification.

However, iPad-based solution users beware: it’s impossible for tablet POS systems running on iOS or Android to achieve PA-DSS because the standards have yet to be developed by the PCI Council. This means the onus falls on the merchant to ensure his software is compliant and keeps customers’ payment card data secure.

pcAmerica’s point-of-sale solutions Cash Register Express™ and Restaurant Pro Express™ are PA-DSS certified. For more information about how you can ensure your business is protected, please call your pcAmerica sales representative at 1-800-722-6374.