Verifone Turns to Thales for Payment Data Encryption

Verifone has hired a new security detail.

The payment technology company has selected Thales nShield hardware security modules (HSMs) for use in its end-to-end encryption solution, VeriShield Total Protect, it was announced yesterday (April 20).

Whether payment is made using a physical credit card or a mobile device, the application of Thales HSMs to Verifone’s architecture secures the payment data in a high-speed and scalable environment to reduce the risk of compromise within retail environments on the merchant side. The press release from Thales also notes that the integration simplifies deployment for the merchant by reducing the number of required Payment Card Industry (PCI) controls.

By adding the Thales HSMs to VeriShield Total Protect, it appears that Verifone is following through on its expressed commitment toward adapting to mobile and digital point-of-sale technologies, particularly as they relate to EMV. Just last month — as another example — the company launched a cloud-based POS.

Of the Thales integration, Verifone’s Chief Security Officer Joe Majka remarked in the press release: “As a global payment solutions and commerce enablement leader, Verifone’s strategy is to develop and deploy ‘best in class’ payment solutions and services that meet or exceed global security standards and help our clients securely accept electronic payments across all channels of commerce. We selected Thales HSMs to provide robust security, unmatched performance and superior scalability across our payment security platforms, protecting encryption keys from virtually any attack.”

Cindy Provin, President of Thales e-Security Inc., added: “Direct attacks on payment devices have become increasingly common and highly sophisticated, but strongly encrypted card holder data is useless if ever there were a breach. Thales’s extensive expertise and leadership in the payment market, enriched by our long-standing partnerships with leading payments processing vendors, helps customers such as Verifone reduce risk, trim costs and future-proof their payments infrastructures as the payment industry sees new challenges and business models emerge. We are delighted that after evaluating solutions from other vendors, Verifone has chosen to use Thales HSMs to protect its payment security technology, giving merchants, processors and consumers complete confidence that unencrypted data will never be exposed to potential thieves.”