Management of Security Risks in Point of Sale Systems

The assignment provided discusses the management of security risks in point of sale (POS) systems, highlighting their advantages, disadvantages, and importance in business operations. It emphasizes the need for secure data storage and access control to prevent unauthorized access and maintain confidentiality and privacy. The document also touches on the benefits of centralized database systems and local area networks in POS system implementation.

IT FOR BUSINESS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1.Advantages and disadvantages of POS system........................................................................1
2. Role POS for helping the business in gaining competitive advantages..................................1
3. Advantages of having centralised Database............................................................................2
4.Role of POS system in decision making..................................................................................3
5.Telecommunication options for POS system...........................................................................3
6.Risk possessed by POS system................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Point of Scale system which facilitate the real time transaction of the retail sector. The
system provides all the details regarding the particular transaction which is necessary to be
recorded. This report contains the advantages and disadvantages of this system along with the
importance in business (Abadi and et.al., 2016). Also the benefits of centralised database system
has been provided along with the role of this system in decision making process in a business.
1.Advantages and disadvantages of POS system
Advantages of POS system are:
 The system improves the efficiency of transacting the amount at the present time which
makes it easy to maintain many transaction records effectively.
 It helps to manage the stock of the firm efficiently which in turn has many benefits for it.
 It provide reports of every payment accurately with less chances of errors.
 It helps to keep the track of employees who works for the firm which keeps track on the
transaction performed by them.
 Consistency of prices of various products and services are maintained.
 Possibilities of human errors has been decreased due to the implementation of this
system.
Disadvantages of POS system are :
 The system is purely dependent on the internet connection which must be continued and
reliable (Charalambous, 2014).
 There are frequent software update in the system which if not updated on time can create
some disturbances in the procedure.
 They are very complexed and less preferred by people as they are in habit of old
procedures of transaction handling.
 The implementation can be very costly which cannot be afforded by every business
owner. Therefore less preferred to imply in their business as can create many problems
for them .
2. Role POS for helping the business in gaining competitive advantages
POS System helps the business to provide some distinctive features that ultimately helps
to gain some competitive advantages:
Tracking data of customers
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POS helps to keep all the records related to every customers along with [roper date and
time so that if any issue created can be solved immediately which provides the advantage to any
business as it can resolve these common issues effectively.
Financial Reporting
Businesses that are small cannot hire financial experts who charges lots of money so for
rescuing this aspect point of scale plays a major role in keeping up of all the records finncially
which has features like book keeping and record keeping that helps to take financial decision
very effectively.
Advanced Billing system
Now the traditional billing system are considered to be obsolete, now billing is not done
manually every thing has been converted into automation which provides faster access to billing
and the time which were consumed earlier is now saved.
Cheap and Portable Option
These systems are easy to carry which provides the one an option for performing
transaction anywhere which provides the one to conduct their business activities any where
(Chen and et.al., 2015.). Therefore, their availability is much stronger .
3. Advantages of having centralised Database
Following are the advantages of centralised database:
 Integrity of data is increased whereas Redundancy is minimise due to the storing of all
the data and information at a single place which helps to maintain the accuracy of data
effectively
 Security of data is the major benefit which can be achieved from centralised database as
it helps to secure the files at one destination only.
 Fault in the file set up can be handled easily because it provides the better preservation of
data which not only maintains but prevents any error in handling these files.
 It provides easy portability and administration of data.
 This database system is very cost effective as compared to other systems all the factors
such as power supply, labour and maintenance cost get minimised (Huang, Li and Jin,
2015).
 Any updates or amendments in the file can be done in less time because all files are
stored together.
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 Data can be accessed more easily as compared on this database as compared to others
from any location through the device which is linked to the centralised system
 Updates regarding the software or any data set is received by every user at the same time
which results in having the update simultaneously .
4.Role of POS system in decision making
Decision making requires correct information on time. These information is provided by
point of scale in very less time and without creating any problems. Contains all the records
which are even old also therefore it provides every source for information at effectively. As all
the files are stored together at single destination so it facilitate in providing access to multiple
information. The decision regarding financial investment or any disputes with their customers
can be immediately resolved with all the evidences required. The system contains all the track of
transactions therefore any prediction related to it can easily be analysed therefore the concept
can laid towards the effective resource planning in the business. Keeping check on all the
transactions helps to reduce the chances of error in decision making process (Longo and
et.al.,2017). One can also predict the sales forecast by analysing the records of past sales for
producing the right amount of products .
5.Telecommunication options for POS system
Telecommunication plays a crucial role for every point of scale systems if the right kind
of option is adopted is the very effective network that one should implement as the local area
network is required for those business which is situated under one roof. This network is applied
for those who have less devices but are situated in a small area. This network can be easily
handled and the faults which are created can be easily rectified. These networks required less
cost for implementation and also are least complicated.
The media which should be chose is wireless because it does not required much space and can
cover all areas very easily. The device which can be used is Wi-Fi systems which are secure.
Some of the benefit associated are they can be easily integrated and is convenient (Platbrood and
et.al.,2014). These devices are mobile in nature can be shifted to any area and also has the
feature of getting expanded very easily due to independence on the medium to transfer the data
from. These are the features that provide many benefits to the small business that is why they are
preferred over the other medium .
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6.Risk possessed by POS system
There are many major risks which are associated with the point of scale system which are
Unauthorised Access
This is the serious issue which is related to safety and security of all the information
stored in the point of scale system as any authorised individual can access these systems and can
acquire important and confidential information for misuse. The misuse of these information can
create harm to the owner of the business.
Malware attacks
The system is most prone to various viruses and malware which can corrupt the important
information of the whole system or can create harm to the whole system by attacking it as a
whole.
Security
Security of the information is questionable as it can be accessed by any one therefore its
variability can created threats for its security. It is very important that the data should be secured.
Confidentiality
Some data are the most important which contains necessary information of the business
therefore the confidential files of data can be accessed by anyone. There it is very important to
keep these data protected.
Privacy
The privacy concept of every data is obvious as every departments keeps their data out of
reach from any one as these data are confidential for that particular department and cannot be
used by others.
The steps which can be taken for the management of these risk are by providing user
identification number and passwords so that informational files can be accessed by them only.
No unknown outsider can access them (POS Systems and Risk Management, 2018). Also these
passwords must be change from time to time so that it cannot be hacked by anyone else.
CONCLUSION
It has been concluded that point of scale system has many advantages such as it makes
the business activities more efficient an the disadvantages associated is the security risk of all the
information related to it. Also the importance of this system has been acknowledged which helps
every business to take proper decisions. There are many benefits of the centralised data base
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system as it provides one destination to every file for storing, maintaining and accessing. Also
local area network is the best option for telecommunication for this system as it is more secure
and requires wireless medium which are easy to integrate and has high conveniences. Also there
are many risk which are associated with it such as security, confidentiality and privacy.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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Abadi, M. and et.al., 2016. Tensorflow: Large-scale machine learning on heterogeneous
distributed systems. arXiv preprint arXiv:1603.04467.
Charalambous, C. P., 2014. Interrater reliability of a modified Ashworth scale of muscle
spasticity. In Classic Papers in Orthopaedics (pp. 415-417). Springer, London.
Chen, X. and et.al., 2015. New algorithms for secure outsourcing of large-scale systems of linear
equations. IEEE transactions on information forensics and security.10(1).pp.69-78.
Huang, C., Li, F. and Jin, Z., 2015. Maximum power point tracking strategy for large-scale wind
generation systems considering wind turbine dynamics. IEEE Transactions on Industrial
Electronics.62(4). pp.2530-2539.
Longo, F. and et.al.,2017. An approach for resiliency quantification of large scale systems. ACM
SIGMETRICS Performance Evaluation Review.44(4).pp.37-48.
Platbrood, L. and et.al.,2014. A generic approach for solving nonlinear-discrete security-
constrained optimal power flow problems in large-scale systems. IEEE Transactions on Power
Systems.29(3).pp.1194-1203.
Online
POS Systems and Risk Management.2018.[online].Available Through
<https://www.armaghpos.com/pos-systems-and-risk-management/>
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