Recently, a cyber-attack affected approximately 160 grocery stores in Montana, Washington, and Idaho. Over twenty cities and towns in Montana were affected, including some businesses in our own backyard. Payment systems utilized by URM Stores, Inc., a retailers’ cooperative, were temporarily compromised, revealing some customers’ credit and debit card data. As a result of the breach, customers of some URM stores began seeing mysterious charges appear on their credit card statements. A URM Store member and grocery store (who prefers to remain anonymous) in Frenchtown, Montana, was unaffected by the data breach. This particular store uses the payment processing services of Big Sky Commerce rather than systems provided by URM Stores. Big Sky Commerce provides additional security to our merchants in order to prevent such cyber-attacks, including important steps of maintaining PCI Compliance.

PCI Compliance involves an annual online questionnaire (and network scans in some cases) for merchants to complete to ensure they are taking all reasonable measures to prevent credit card theft and data breaches. Our compliance certifications include $100,000 data breach insurance for each merchant. PCI Compliance plays an important role in protecting both merchants and customers from credit card fraud.

During these busy holiday times, dealing with credit card theft is the last thing you need on your to-do list. Extra protection for merchants, as provided by Big Sky Commerce, minimizes the risks associated with fraud and data breaches in the payments food chain.

Written by Lexi Standley