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Few business owners can also claim to be security experts. However, with high-tech fraudsters growing ever-more sophisticated, it’s important to clearly understand the nature of the threats that face us and take the necessary steps to protect our businesses and our mutual customers. Indeed, as a small-business owner, you take all the necessary precautions to protect your storefront.

2011 will almost certainly go down as a year of civil and cultural uprising. Citizens revolted, challenged, and even overthrew their governments in a domino effect that has since been coined the “Arab Spring,” though it stretched beyond a single season. Those disgruntled by what they perceived as the wealth-mongering “1%”, occupied Wall Street along with other cities and venues across the globe. There is no shortage of other examples.

Requirement 3 of the Payment Card Industry’s Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is to “protect stored cardholder data.” The public assumes merchants and financial institutions will protect data on payment cards to thwart theft and prevent unauthorized use. But merchants should take note: Requirement 3 applies only if cardholder data is stored. Merchants who do not store any cardholder data automatically provide stronger protection by having eliminated a key target for data thieves.

Organizations that accept credit card payments have access to consumers’ sensitive data and should be complying with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). A recent study by visa.com indicates that online sellers processing $20,000 to $1 million per year are only 60% compliant with PCI DSS. All sellers (both online and offline) processing less than $1 million per year are only moderately compliant with the standards.

The nightmare of a security breach at your small business has become more of a possibility in recent years. Despite that trend, a majority of small businesses are not taking steps to try to prevent a data or security breach, new research has found.