CPS News...


     I am sending this newsletter out to the entire CPS Community due to the importance of the topics. Please forward this to the appropriate folks in your organization, as needed. To be included in the free weekly newsletter that I send out every couple of weeks, you can subscribe here.

     Today's news will cover the following:
          1. Crail/CPS news release
          2. CPS Community Offers
          3. Off-Site Backup of your CPS Database
          4. CPS Staffing
          5. PA-DSS status and Required Documentation (REQUIRED READING if
              you are processing credit cards via CPS software)
          6. US-Cert Cyber Security Alerts

Crail Golfing Society and CPS News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

     1st March 2009

     LEGENDARY GOLF COMMENTATOR BACKS ONLINE BOOKING AT WORLD FAMOUS CRAIL GOLFING
     SOCIETY

     Renowned golf journalist Ben Wright says that local golfers and international visitors will benefit from 
     the investment in online booking technology made by the venerated Crail Golfing Society. more...


CPS Community Offers


     CPS is installed in over 1,000 sites in 12 countries. In discussing ways to promote Crail (see news release above), David Roy came up with a brilliant idea. His words describe it best:

"I've always said to Tom that the way in which you operate your company it seems like I am part of a community, rather than just a customer. I say this because your blogs communicate how much you love golf and how much you enjoy dealing with us as people. As a result, I think there may be mileage in providing exclusive offers to those clubs that use your software" - David Roy, Managing Secretary, Crail Golfing Society, Fifeness, Crail.

     The idea is to provide a vehicle for clubs that use CPS products in order for them to provide exclusive offers to other clubs that use CPS products. Exclusive offers for members of the CPS Community will be extended to other Clubs as well as the members or players of those clubs. We created a CPS Community Offers section on our web site. Crail provided the first offer for Free Air, Free Green Fees and a Free One Year Membership for international customers! Check it out here or click on the Community Offers link from the menu bar on the main menu of our website www.ClubProphetSystems.com, and be sure to communicate the offer with your golfers on our behalf.

     For the short term, the CPS Community Offers will be a FREE service. If it becomes overbearing, then I may institute a means to recover some of my labor cost or perhaps try to get a sponsor for the site.

     If you would like to extend offers to the CPS Community, send the offer my way and I will post it in the Community Offers section. We will communicate the offers in weekly newsletters as we receive them.


Off-Site Backup of your CPS Database


     We had to recover yet another customer database this week that had a hard drive crash and had not been backing up their data. Do not get caught in this trap! Full data recovery is a 50/50 chance at best. Your data is your most valuable asset and you can protect it for about $1 per day in a secure off-site location. Click here to read my prior newsletter on the backup service we negotiated for the CPS Community.

CPS Staffing

    
     Coming off a record year in 2008, we are getting slammed with orders and going through yet another growth period here. Great problem to have -- especially in this economic climate! We are aware of a large backlog and are working on adding staff. The current corporate family includes Club Prophet Systems (CPS), Club Prophet Systems Europe (CPS€) and POS Prophet Systems (PPS).

     Current efforts include:

    1. The creation of a separate POS Prophet Systems (PPS) programming team. Status: In Place March 1, 2009.
    2. Hiring 2 additional programmers for the CPS R&D programming team. Status: One is in training and interviews under way for the other position.
    3. Hiring additional Tech Support / Helpdesk and Trainer position in the USA office. Status: Interviews under way.
    4. Creation of a Tech Support / Helpdesk operation, for the European Union, for Club Prophet Systems Europe (CPS€). Status: Training underway.

PA-DSS Status and Required Documentation


     We are still in the process of PA-DSS certification. Our first test was conducted in late January and the POS Express application passed all vulnerability testing. However, some of the documentation was marked as Not-In-Place. We are back in the queue for testing again. The next scheduled review is June 6; however we are working with the auditing firm to move up this date. In the meantime, to satisfy the documentation requirement, we are posting the following:

1. Click here for the PA-DSS Implementation Guide on our website. This document is required reading for everyone that is using any CPS product for processing credit cards.
2. Click here for the Club Prophet PA-DSS Letter. This letter is from the PA-DSS auditor attesting to the fact that we are under audit.

Once certification is complete, the following Credit Card interfaces will be supported:

1. ETS
2. Shift4
3. TSYS
4. Servebase - PC-EFT - BRIF3 (Ireland)
5. IPPF - Host Based (pending review). Note: CHASE/Paymentec Terminal Mode processing is no longer supported!


US-CERT Cyber Security Alerts


     Cyber Security Alerts are Produced 2009 by US-CERT, a government organization. This FREE service tracks Cyber threats, fixes and emails them as they arise. You (or at least someone on your staff) should subscribe to this service to keep informed of vulnerabilities and patches. Typically, running windows updates will fix most problems on the PC platform. Subscription to this service is also part of your PA-DSS certification recommendations. To subscribe, click here: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/signup.html.


Until next time,

Enjoy :)