VeriFone Announces VeriShield Protect for EMV Smart Cards

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VeriFone Holdings, Inc. have announced that its VeriShield Protect end-to-end encryption solution for card payment security will be available for use with the EMV smart card standard and will also support contactless payments.

First introduced in the U.S. to help merchants and acquirers secure cardholder information and comply with PCI data security requirements, VeriShield Protect is now being expanded for use worldwide in support of all card payment types. VeriShield Protect with full EMV and contactless capability is now being introduced in the UK and for other regions beginning in spring 2010.

With Visa International and MasterCard now both mandating global compliance with the PCI Data Security Standard by the end of 2010, the authentication and anti-card skimming benefits of EMV is no longer sufficientmerchants and acquirers also need to protect the integrity of cardholder data, said Jeffrey Wakefield, VeriFone vice president and general manager, Global Security Solutions. VeriShield Protect provides that data security element, and its unique format-preserving encryption technology makes it easy to implement within the existing infrastructure.

VeriShield Protect eliminates usable cardholder data from a retailer's POS applications, networks and servers by encrypting it end to end, so that even in the event of a security breach no usable data could be compromised and any stored data is secure. Real-time monitoring of payment transactions ensures that organizations can respond immediately to mitigate any attempted breach.

VeriFones exclusive, format-preserving VeriShield Hidden Encryption (VHE) uses sophisticated AES encryption and enables existing payment applications to deal with encrypted cardholder data that is unusable by hackers, but does not impact existing transaction message formats. That makes it possible to integrate VeriShield Protect without costly changes to existing POS, back-office and acquirer software.

In addition, VeriFones VeriShield Secure Device Management Service (VSDMS) provides real-time, actionable security alerts regarding breaches or use of non-compliant devices or systems for timely mitigation.

VeriShield Protect now supports the broadest range of card payments, whether they are magstripe, contactless or EMV-based, said Wakefield. As all of these payment acceptance methods will continue to co-exist in the foreseeable future, merchants and acquirers can now seamlessly protect all cardholder information that enters their enterprise.

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