Small Business IT Services for Restaurants

Posted January 22, 2019

In Blog, IT Solutions, Managed IT Service Providers, Managed IT Services, Managed Service Provider, Managed Services

Restaurants are becoming increasingly digital. Everything from the POS system to credit card readers require network connectivity. In addition, more and more consumers expect that restaurants have unsecured WiFi connectivity, so that they can stay online even when they’re away from home. That’s why small business IT services for restaurants are an increasingly fundamental piece of running a successful business.

According to the National Restaurant Association, the average cost of a restaurant security breach is $75,000. Of those that experience a breach, 50% will go out of business within one year. It is predicted that 1 in 8 restaurants will experience a breach in the next two years. Don’t allow your business to become another cybersecurity statistic. Take the necessary measures to protect your business from those who mean you harm.

Small business IT services can help you set up the following protocols and procedures to help you protect your business:

1. Just as you would hide your credit card slips or confidential employee paperwork behind closed doors, you need to the do the same for your network hardware. Physical security is the first step in ensuring that breaches don’t happen. If you are vigilant in preventing the possibility of hackers accessing the hardware, you’ve completely eliminated a major entryway.

2. All businesses that use a network to run credit cards are required to pass a Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard compliance test, or PCI DSS. This set of requirements is agreed upon by all major credit processing companies, such as Visa and Mastercard, to protect customers against credit card fraud. Businesses are validated on a regular basis, and noncompliance is penalized. Ensure that your restaurant has the hardware and security measures in place to meet those requirements:

Build and Maintain a Secure Network and Systems
Protect Cardholder Data
Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program
Implement Strong Access Control Measures
Regularly Monitor and Test Networks
Maintain an Information Security Policy

3. Create multiple network access points, called redundancies, that your online systems can fall back on in case of failure. For example, you may set up seperate cellular, cable, and DSL data access points. In the event that one fails, you can still quickly and securely process payments in compliance with the PCI DSS.

4. Set up difficult to access segments of your network. Don’t let credit card data travel on the same segment of the network that people can access through your public WiFi. All customer-accessible network information should be carefully partitioned out and have its own dedicated firewall. Any confidential information should travel on its own dedicated network, as well.

Kevin Willette

Kevin Willette is Partner / CEO of Verus Corp. His focus is ensuring complete customer satisfaction and providing as much or as little support as is needed for the individual client. Kevin knows that plenty of places do IT services, but what sets Verus Corp apart is the local feeling and the commitment to doing things right the first time. He has always wanted to be a business owner because it affords him the opportunity to offer a service that was better than anything clients had seen before. His true goal is to help customers make their businesses better by removing potential IT barriers. Kevin served as chair for Habitat for Humanity during his time at Minnesota State University, Mankato. He has also served on the WatchGuard Advisory Council since 2016. Kevin’s work with Verus Corp has helped them achieve awards as the WatchGuard Partner of the Year and Cisco Select Partner. Kevin graduated from Minnesota State in 2000 with a major in Business Marketing and minors in Business Administration and Music.