The DNC Email Hack: How Charities Can Keep Their Information Secure

The American Democratic National Convention kicked off this week amidst the release of 20,000 of their emails by Wikileaks.  In addition to adding fuel to allegations that the DNC had unfairly worked against runner-up candidate Bernie Sanders, thousands of social insurance, passport numbers, and credit card numbers of Democratic donors were released.  Although many called foul on Wikileaks for releasing such sensitive personal information, the fact that the DNC stored it in an unsecure way speaks to the needs of charities, membership organizations, and other similar groups to get on top of their payments security measures.

Non-profits can be especially constrained by financial and staffing resources, making the task of living up to payments industry standards seem daunting.  However, the cost of a data breach such as the one experienced by the DNC is always much higher.  Fortunately, with innovations in payments systems, there are many low-barrier ways that organizations can ensure they are keeping their donors’ and members’ information secure.  

One of the easiest solutions available for non-profits and political organizations is a Hosted Payment Page.  

Hosted Payment Pages are easily integrated into your website and significantly lower the cost of PCI DSS compliance for merchants, alleviating costly liability for a breach.  With a Hosted Payment Page, your chosen payments gateway is responsible for capturing and processing the credit card data, but the seamless white-label solution allows for a fully branded experience for your donors, members, or customers.  There are many different payments gateways that offer Hosted Payment Pages.  

If you are interested in finding a solution that is right for you and your organization, please feel free to contact our team of experts.  We are dedicated to supporting your team towards a seamless, more secure payments processing future.