October 27, 2009
-
Heartland on E3 end-to-end encryption, Pt.1
CIO speaks out on security needs.A number of immense security breaches over the past two years which left credit card consumers extremely vulnerable to identity theft and card fraud, has sparked a global movement to utilize technology for greater security. Headlines captured the stories of massive hacking incidents including the Heartland Payment Systems Inc. data breach which could be the largest in history. It is believed the breach compromised the personal and credit card information of millions of consumers. Although the intruders have been apprehended, individuals across the globe have an increasing concern for the security of their personal information. Banks, electronic payment processing, and merchants have combined efforts in the search of developing and implementing a more secure system. In a recent interview with SearchSecurity.com, Steven Elefant, CIO of Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. the 6th largest credit card processor in the United States who specializes in servicing small to mid-sized merchants, discussed the company's plans to meet these need.
According to Elefant, Heartland is the industry leader in the development of an E3 end-to-end encryption system which includes new secure debit and credit card terminals. The prominent payment processor has embarked on an initiative to empower the debit and credit card payment processing industry to develop an industry standard that would encompass the use of an end-to-end encryption system. Debate has escalated in the payment processing industry involving other security technology. Heartland's competitors, First Data and Voltage, have submerged themselves over the superiority of RSA software which utilizes a tokenization system.
While the debate continues in determining which system is the best, Heartland's clients can expect to see the company's new debit and credit card processing terminals embracing the E3 end-to-end encryption system by the end of the year. To hear more about Elefant's interview and learn how payment processing systems differ, see Part Two of this series.