Businesses are always seeking ways to enhance customer experience to gain more customer loyalty. The customer loyalty provides a great foundation to build your success upon. In today’s hustling market landscape where the technology is dominating each and every aspect of businesses. And it is not limited to that, in fact the technology is deeply infused in our private and personal lives as well.
If you are living in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi or anywhere else in UAE, you would have seen these flashy screens everywhere attracting towards them. Whether it is a simple utility bill payment kiosk, a vending machine, or a ticket dispensing kiosk, these interactive self-service kiosks are everywhere. With the advancement of the technology and modern software tools, the interactive self-service kiosk have become more reliable, innovative and aligned with modern day’s business needs. The payment kiosk system have become much more sophisticated, high-tech and intuitive.
This led to a rapid adaptation of the payment kiosk systems across various industries, businesses of all types and sizes are automating their payment processes by leveraging the interactive payment kiosks. With several extraordinary advantages the payment kiosk systems comes with some security challenges as well.
These security challenges are crucial for business success, it is extremely important for businesses to understand the paramount importance of security and data protection for the customers. An average consumer in the country is very tech-savvy people put security concerns at top and it could be a single most influential differentiator when it comes to choosing a service provider. In this blog we will discuss the common and most crucial security challenges and their solution for payment kiosk systems.
See Also: How Interactive Kiosks are Enhancing In-Store Engagement and Sales
Payment Kiosk Systems: Common Security Challenges and Their Solutions
The payment kiosk systems are fundamentally built on a very advanced technology having multiple security layers at place to ensure a proactive and secure transaction. However, the payment kiosk systems are not immune to security risks. Here are a few most common threats and risks that any payment kiosk machine and system could face:
- Unauthorized Access: This can be due to security breach at communication between the server and the kiosk, or it could be in form of tempered identity or compromised server/hosting.
- Malware Infection: This is also another most common threat for IT solutions, cyber criminals usually try to inject a malicious program in kiosk using any exposed/accessible port or via internet.
- Skimming Devices: This is another common threat, but fortunately it is not so common in UAE. The cyber criminals can install physical skimming devices to read user’s cards and data.
- Insecure Network: This is usually common on wireless network. However this can be avoided by utilizing wired internet connection via concealed and protected cables.
- Man-in-the-Middle Attack: This is another most common cyber threat, the cyber criminals can somehow gain access to the communication between the kiosk and the server to manipulate data.
- Brute Force Attack: This is another online attack, the cyber criminals utilizes sophisticated algorithms to guess the password of the backend or admin panel of the payment kiosk system.
- Software Vulnerabilities: The main software vulnerabilities include usage of outdated, unpatched software, operating system or outdated programing stacks.
- Denial of Service Attack: The malicious actors try to flood the payment kiosk system with massive network traffic and request, try to make it unresponsive or completely crash it.
These are some of the most common challenges any payment kiosk system could face. Furthermore there are physical challenges too, which includes physical theft, vandalism and other such threats. Whenever a business plans to implement a payment kiosk system, these security challenges must be adhered in order to ensure a smooth and seamless operation. Once the trust of the customer is broken it is very hard to repair and businesses could lose their reputation.
Here are some simple and easy solutions to the most common security challenges:
Encryption and Tokenization
Whenever it comes to the security of any software solution the encryption plays a vital role. The payment kiosk systems are no exception at all. In your payment kiosk system all the communication between the interactive self-service payment kiosk and the backend software application should be encrypted using top-notch industry protocols such as SSL or TSL. Usually the payment kiosk machines are computer terminals running the UIs for the customers, accepting cash and facilitating POS credit/debit card based payments.
The data is stored at the central server and it is that server where the actual software application is hosted. This server is also linked with other internal systems and central information center. It is crucial to have a strong encryption protocols in place to secure the communication between the kiosk and the server. Implementing SSL and adopting to tokenization techniques could elevate the security and prevent majority of the online threats. The encryption and tokenization also keep the customer data secure and prevent unauthorized access.
See Also: What is a Bill Payment Kiosk: Everything You Need to Know
Continuous Monitoring and Surveillance
Continuous Monitoring and surveillance can prevent a lot many security threats. The standard payment kiosk machines comes with in-built closed-circuit cameras or CCTV which monitors the kiosk 24/7. Furthermore additional cameras can be added around the kiosk to ensure coverage from multiple viewpoints could make the environment more secure. The advanced payment kiosk systems also comes with in-built facial recognition cameras which are a great value addition to the surveillance system.
Usually the payment kiosk machines are placed in indoors, most of the time the surrounding environment is already covered by the CCTV cameras and in some cases security is also present which is why most of the businesses doesn’t emphasize on in-built CCTV cameras. But even with manned or un-manned environment the in-built security cameras are crucial to level up the security and ensure ultimate protection. These CCTV cameras should be monitored regularly and the CCTV footage should be stored on remote server rather at in-built DVRs/NVRs. This will add an extra layer to the security system.
Software Level Security Features
Most of the businesses are not aware of the software vulnerabilities. It is extremely important to ensure all software level security layers are added to the payment kiosk system, otherwise it will remain vulnerable. The software level security starts from the payment kiosk system software development phase and it includes development process, implementation and going live along with regular maintenance. It is important to choose the software stack wisely. Avoid using unpatched or outdated platforms at any cost.
The outdated frameworks and software stack such as operating system, hosting services and even programing framework could seriously jeopardize the entire system. Use licensed and professional software stack, acquire a highly professional software development team to build your payment kiosk software, add encryption and follow DevSecOps to ensure ultimate software level security. The server where the software is hosted should also follow all industrial standards and top-notch security frameworks in place to ensure highest levels of software security.
Secure Server Hosting or Cloud
The payment kiosk system holds very sensitive and confidential data of both customers and business. Hence the data has to be stored on a highly secured server. Businesses often go with off-shore hosting service providers to optimize the cost. This is not the idea way to host a payment kiosk system. It is crucial that you have an on-shore hosting service provider, even if it is cloud or a dedicated server it should be on-shore.
Furthermore some businesses have in-house IT infrastructure and they host these servers in-house. In that case additional firewalls and networks security measures should be in place to ensure highest level of security. Here in UAE the Microsoft Azure cloud service is one of the best and it also offers on-shore hosting data centers. Which is ideal for such solutions. Even if you are hosting somewhere else or on-premises it is crucial that you follow Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and ensure compliance with local and industrial standards as well.
The hosting is one of the most crucial aspect of security for payment kiosk system hence it should be highly secure and protected. It will not only prevent most common cyber threats such as brute-force attacks, denial of service attack, phishing attacks, and many more.
Secure Authentication and Multi-factor Sign-in
Another one of the most crucial aspect of the security is the authentication and access to the system. There are two major user groups, one is your customers and the other is your employees, contractors or IT team. It is important that you put secure authentication and access control measure in place and also enable multi-factor sign-in process for both the customer and the employees. The customers can be asked to insert their Emirates ID for sign-in, and that is the most secure way to authenticate a user. In some cases if asking for customers Emirates ID is not possible, you can enable secure login process by two-factor authentication via SMS or email.
Furthermore for the employees it is crucial that your payment kiosk system software have additional security features in place, such as enabling multi-factor authentication and sing-in process, creating customized workflows and job roles with limited system and data access, and making complex passwords mandatory for the employees will make the system more secure and protected. All these features will help elevating the overall security of the entire system.
Physical Security Features
As much as the software and network security is important the physical security features are crucial too. Most of the time businesses undermine the importance of physical security features of a payment kiosk machine. Here are some important physical security features of a payment kiosk machine:
- Reinforced Steel Frame: The reinforced steel frame is excellent at deterring the most common physical threats and vandalism. It protects the internals of the kiosk and prevent break-ins.
- Secure Locking Mechanisms: Every kiosk has a maintenance access points and with payment kiosk the regular cash extraction is common, hence all such access points should be protected with a secure and digital locker system to prevent unauthorized access.
- Secure Cash Authenticator: All payment kiosk system should have a secure cash authenticator which can authenticate every currency bill or coin inserted into the cash acceptor.
- Anti-Temper Sensor and Alarm: The payment kiosk machine should be equipped with the anti-temper sensors and a highly audible alarm system to prevent anyone from physically tempering with the kiosk machine.
- Remote Monitoring and Management: The payment kiosk system should have remote monitoring and management capabilities, alerting the administrators for any unwanted situation or trigger.
- Anti-Glare and Vandalism Proof Screens: The payment kiosk must have anti-glare coating on the screen to ensure only customers facing the kiosk can read the screen. Furthermore vandalism proof protective glass can add value to the security.
- Secure and Conceived Cable Management: All the cables, internal and external should be secured, properly ducted and concealed to prevent anyone from accessing them.
- Emergency Power Backup: All payment kiosk system must have emergency power backup or in-built UPS system to prevent any harm during power outage or unplanned disruption.
In case you are implementing an outdoor payment kiosk machine, then it must have additional security features. The outdoor payment kiosk machines usually have more bulky frame, which provide additional security and on top of that they are mounted on a concrete platform which also make them more secure.
See Also: What is a Bill Payment Kiosk: Everything You Need to Know
Conclusion
The payment kiosk system offers great many advantages but also comes with many security challenges as well. In order to maintain the integrity of the transaction and to ensure the customer trust, the payment kiosk system should offer highest possible levels of security. In this blog we have listed some common security challenges and threats along with several preventive measures and solutions. Businesses can add several layers of security to ensure the ultimate protection of the system.
The network security, software level security, physical security features and monitoring is a key to deliver a secure and seamless customer experience. Any security breach would not only undermine customer satisfaction but would also have huge toll on a business’s reputation. With proper planning and in-hand knowledge of common security threats businesses can make their payment kiosk secure without even adding much to the cost of the development.
In this blog we have listed the most common and crucial security threats and several preventive measures and solutions to deter those threats. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to design and develop a tailored payment kiosk system for your business, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.