How MFA Oil Safeguards Your Personal Data
December 14, 2019
Written By Adam Buckallew
A number of high-profile data breaches compromised the private data of hundreds of millions of people in 2018. In what seemed like a weekly occurrence, company after company sent notifications to customers that their personal data may have been exposed to cyberthieves. From hotel giant Marriott to telecom provider T-Mobile and tech titans Facebook and Google, the steady stream of breaches underscored the importance of digital security vigilance.
MFA Oil takes many steps to safeguard the data of its members and customers. The company took part in National Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October by distributing newsletters to employees and posting informational bulletins to keep MFA Oil staff up-to-date on the latest digital threats.
“Employees are the number-one area hackers will target first when attacking a company, so it’s imperative that we ensure our personnel are aware of potential vulnerabilities,” says Nick O’Neil, a senior security administrator with MFA Oil.
O’Neil and other members of the company’s security team routinely test employees’ ability to recognize cybersecurity threats with mock phishing emails intended to deceive the recipients. The tactic has helped MFA Oil employees strengthen their familiarity with the types of tricks cybercriminals deploy.
“Our employees are almost eight times more likely to detect and avoid cybersecurity threats compared to other oil and gas companies and greater than six times more likely to fend off hackers than worldwide averages,” O’Neil says.
The company’s recent digital defense efforts include bolstering its security standards for credit card transactions. As a Level 1 merchant, MFA Oil follows the most stringent guidelines set forth by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council, a global organization devoted to developing, enhancing and disseminating payment account security.
One area where customers can see upgrades to the cooperative’s security systems is at the pump at Break Time convenience stores. MFA Oil has begun to install new credit card readers with the capability to read chip-based cards and expects to have the new readers installed at every location by the midpoint of 2019. After testing, the new credit card readers will have the chip functionality enabled sometime before October 2020. Chip cards have embedded microchips that encrypt cardholder information into a unique code, which significantly increases transaction and account data security when used in tandem with a chip-enabled reader, and makes card cloning and fraud more difficult.
As technology threats continue to grow more advanced, MFA Oil remains committed to protecting the private data of its members and customers. The company regularly reviews and updates its policies to ensure everything that can be done to thwart hackers is put into practice.