Madrock

Tag: processing

DUKPT Overview and Transaction notes

by Derek on Jun.22, 2009, under Banking and EFTPoS

Hi,

Recently I a questing was asked on another post relating to DUKPT. Given I have lots of material on the subject I thought I would create this thread. Link

I will come back at some stage and expand on this when I get time.

Transaction Process narrative:

The diagram describes a mobile terminal/ATM is described using the a AS2805 (‘2805′) message type and 3DES DUKPT and dual direction auth SSL from the terminal to the aquirer (transaction switch).

A good explanation of DUKPT can also be found at Wikipedia.

Diagram of the flow

DUKPT transaction flow - terminal to bank

DUKPT transaction flow - terminal to bank

Background notes:

  • The terminal or ATM firstly encrypts the user entered pin (may be a unique DUKPT key or static, depending on the design and banks involved) prior to incorporating it into the AS 2805 transaction message.
  • the message is then encrypted again using the DUKPT key which has been established through the merchant logon process within the aquirer Host Security Module (HSM) i.e. the user entered pin is encrypted separately and encapsulated within the DUKPT encrypted 2805 message to provide full message encryption.
  • In the diagram a separate dual authenticating SSL session is also used between the terminal/ATM and the aquirers infrastructure. This allowing the transaction including the pin to traverse the external Wired/GPRS/LAN within 2 primary independent layers of encryption, with a 3rd protecting the PIN.
  • When the transaction enters the aquirer environment the message encapsulation layer provided by SSL is removed.  This leaving the DUKPT’ed 2805 message which also encapsulates the separately encrypted PIN.
  • This encrypted message is passed to the aquirer switch engine through to the aquirer’s HSM for decryption of the 2805 message excluding the user entered pin.
  • This is when transactional information necessary for aquirer’s merchant reporting (truncated card number, transaction amount, transaction type, etc.) and fraud management data is collected.
  • The aquirer switch then passes the encrypted PIN to the aquirer HSM requesting that the PIN be decrypted using the aquirer’s PIN encryption and translated to the next banks (Bank 1)  PIN Encryption Key (Pin translation only occurs within the aquirer HSM) This is then sent back to the aquirer Switch engine as the Bank 1 encrypted PIN.
  • The aquirer switch engine then send the decrypted 2805 message with the newly encrypted PIN back to aquirer HSM to be encrypted with the Bank 1 MAC key.
  • The resultant Bank 1 key encrypted message is then sent to Bank 1 for processing and/or passing to the card issuer (using a similar process as described above).
  • When the result is received back from the issuing bank it is encrypted with the Bank 1 MAC key (the pin will not be present in the result message).
  • This is then decrypted by the aquirer HSM, the transaction fate result stored into the aquirer merchant reporting system and the transaction fate re-encrypted with the original aquirer DUKPT key (should be different per terminal/merchant instance) and the result sent back to the terminal through the original established SSL encrypted terminal connection.

The aquirer may terminate the the SSL connection on a hardware device such as a CISCO Content Service Switch (CSS), or equivalent instead of the design described in the diagram which terminates onto a SSL session server/gateway (Possibly including a Certificate Authority) or on the aquirer transaction switch.

When PIN blocks are received by the aquirer processing centre, the PIN encryption is translated from the terminal key to the Local Master Key (LMK) by the Host Security Modules (HSM).

When the message is sent on the upstream bank interchange link to the issuer or gateway , the aquirer HSM translates the encrypted PIN block from the LMK to the Zone Master Key (ZMK) of the aquirer interchange link. The PIN block is always encrypted using DEA3 (3DES) whenever outside of the Terminal or ATM.

HSM-8000-User Guide V2.2

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EFT Syetms and Device Considerations

by Derek on Aug.05, 2008, under Banking and EFTPoS, Security

EFT devices and systems differ depending on hardware vendor, country and bank / payment aggregator.
Below is a list of things you may like to consider. This list is off the top of my head so it is probably not complete.

Looking at the products and relationships us usually a good start.

Things to consider:

  • Card skimming methods
  • Some EFT POS devices restrict the connection of a skimmer
  • Review levels of associated fraud
  • Review devices and EFT methods
  • Review terminal identification (merchant and customer)
  • Manual processing. (internal and external)
  • eCommerce products
  • PC based software
  • Dedicated server services (Nobil, etc.)
  • Web based engine (Custom objects, Web pop-ups, etc)
  • Authorisation / identification methods (Merchant and customer)
  • TCPIP session hijacking / session spoofing
  • Direct Debit as well as Credit Cards.
  • Swift (methods and controls)
  • Telegraphic transfer (methods and controls)
  • Payment aggregator relationships (eg. Payment Tech, manual processing, cheque scanning, etc.)
  • Internet banking facilities (attack / penetration,  Certificate registration / management, ISP SLA’s, etc.)
  • Implementation of Smart Card and / or alternative customer recognition devices.
  • Outsourcing and associated risks / service level agreements
  • Payment processing
  • Payment clearance
  • Payment switching
  • Reporting (segregation of merchant / customers / aggregators / partners / local / international)
  • Fraud detection and reporting
  • 3rd party acquiring risks
  • Single merchant ID many businesses
  • Allows moneys to be laundered if the payment aggregator does not place appropriate controls on the merchant.
  • Encryption used
  • Internet / trusted partner / inter-bank / extranet
  • Private and / or public certificates
  • Single use certificates
  • Client side certificates
  • Remittance advice processes and controls.
  • EFT disaster recovery and manual fall back procedures (associated security and reconciliation risks)
  • Trusted partner relationships, SLA’s, liabilities and risks.
  • EFT regulatory / legal requirements (inter-bank and government)
  • Refund processing / authorisation. (policies, procedures, controls, etc.)
  • CVV, CVV-2 / CVC-2 processing and management. (http://www.atlanticpayment.com/CVV.htm)
  • Fraud detection mechanism (neural networks, inter-bank / department customer checks, etc)
  • Supported card schemes (AMEX/Visa/Mastercard/Discover/etc )
  • Review EFT floor limits (corporate and SME merchants)
  • Review the ability to withhold merchant settlement until the presence of fraud has been determined.
  • Review customer identification details. Such as (This varies around the world depending on local regulations / privacy laws)
  • Review real-time and batched processing methods and controls (sequence numbers, access to raw data, etc.)
  • Review processing with and without expiry dates. (exception controls and policies)
  • Review exception / fraud reports.
  • Review payment store and forward policies and procedures.
  • Review Pre-Auth and Completion controls.
  • Token based payment (eCash, etc)
  • Merchant reconciliation, reporting methods and controls (paper, Internet, email, PDF, Fax, etc.) and associated security.
  • Real time gross settlement policies, procedures and controls. (IT and amounts)
  • Card issuing policies and procedures. (customer ID checks, etc)
  • Banking infrastructure (ingress / egress) controls and security. (Web, partner, payment switches, outsourced infrastructure, monitoring / reporting.)
  • Use of Internet technologies for inter-bank transfers and remote equipment.
  • Physical security and controls of devices, ATM,s, line encryptors, etc.
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Financial Transaction Processing

by Derek on Jul.02, 2008, under Banking and EFTPoS

I have been recently working inside one of the larger Banks in Australia.
Through this work I have been looking at the controls and mechanisms surrounding the processing of credit and debit cards around the Asia Pacific.

I get perform many security architecture and payment systems assessments.
Over the years I have always considered the protection of the card data as one of the key considerations.

Until yesterday I had never seen an CVV or PVV decryption tools. I think some scripted use of these tools could be very interesting.
The site hziggurat29.com

Many of the other tools on this site are also very unique and worth a look.
Big thanks to ziggurat29 for providing such awesome tools.

As many of these sites are of this nature are difficult to find and often seem to vanish over the years, I have chosen to replicate the the text from this page and provide local copies on the files.
It is worth periodically visiting the ziggurat29 site every now and again to see if any additional tools have been posted.

One of the more extraordinary files is the Atalla Hardware Security Module (HSM)  and BogoAtalla for Linksys emulation (simulation) tools. So I wonder if Eracom and Thales are shaking in their boots. Some how I don’t think so. ;-)

——– ziggurat29 Text ———

These are all Windows command-line utilities (except where noted); execute with the -help option
to determine usage.

DUKPT Decrypt (<- the actual file to download)

This is a utility that will decrypt Encrypted PIN Blocks that have been produced via the DUKPT triple-DES method.  I used this for testing the output of some PIN Pad software I had created, but is also handy for other debugging purposes.

VISA PVV Calculator (<- the actual
file to download)

This is a utility that will compute and verify PIN Verification Values that have been produced using the VISA PVV technique.  It has a bunch of auxiliary functions, such as verifying and fixing a PAN (Luhn computations), creating and encrypting PIN blocks, decrypting and extracting PINs from encrypted PIN blocks, etc.

VISA CVV Calculator (<- the actual file to download)

This is a utility that will compute Card Verification Values that have been produced using the VISA CVV technique.  MasterCard CVC uses the CVV algorithm, so it will work for that as well.  It will compute CVV, CVV2, CVV3, iCVV, CAVV, since these are just variations on service code and the
format of the expiration date.  Verification is simply comparing the computed value with what you have received, so there is no explicit verification function.

Atalla AKB Calculator (<- the actual file to download)

This is a utility that will both generate and decrypt Atalla AKB cryptograms.  You will need the plaintext MFK to perform these operations.  When decrypting, the MAC will also be checked and the results shown.

BogoAtalla (<- the actual file to
download)

This is an Atalla emulator (or simulator).  This software emulation (simulation) of the well-known Atalla Hardware Security Module (HSM) that is used by banks and processors for cryptographic operations, such as verifying/translating PIN blocks, authorising transactions by verifying
CVV/CSC numbers, and performing key exchange procedures, was produced for testing purposes.  This implementation is not of the complete HP Atalla command set, but rather the just
portions that I myself needed.  That being said, it is complete enough if you are performing acquiring and/or issuing processing functions, and are using more modern schemes such as Visa PVV and DUKPT, and need to do generation, verification, and translation.

This runs as a listening socket server and handles the native Atalla command set.  I have taken some liberties with the error return values and have not striven for high-fidelity there (i.e., you may get a different error response from native hardware), but definitely should get identical positive
responses.  Some features implemented here would normally require purchasing premium commands, but all commands here implemented are available.  Examples are generating PVV values and encrypting/decrypting plaintext PIN values.

BogoAtalla for Linksys (<- the actual file to download)

This is the Atalla emulator ported to Linux and build for installation on an OpenWRT system.  Makes for a really cheap ($60 USD) development/test device.

 

Local Files

bogoatalla002
atallaakbcalc
bogoatalla_10-1_mipsel
dukptdecrypt
visacvvcalc
visapvvcalc

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E-Commerce Glossary

by Derek on Jun.18, 2008, under Banking and EFTPoS

Acquiring Institution
The Financial Institution which holds the Merchant Account partaking in a financial transaction, typically the first bank involved in the processing of a payment.

Applet
A small computer program which facilitates the performance of particular tasks.

Bandwidth
The capacity of a server to carry or process information. The higher the bandwidth the faster graphics-laden web pages will download.

Browser
Short for Web browser, a software application used to locate and display Web pages. The two most popular browsers are Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Both of these are graphical browsers, which means that they can display graphics as well as text. In addition, most modern browsers can present multimedia information, including sound and video, though they require plug-ins for some formats.

Caching
The automatic copying and storage of frequently used information onto a computer system – Typically caching is seen whilst surfing the internet (graphics, etc.) and used by Internet Services Providers (ISP’s) to reduce the amount of data requested from the user onto the internet.

Issuer
The Financial Institution which issued the cardholder’s account and card.

Cardholder
The individual participating in the financial transaction whose card is being credited or debited.

Card Verification Data
The additional information printed on the card to be processed. This is used to verify if the card was present when the transaction was initiated.  This is the additional digits imprinted on the card usually on the reverse side for VISA & Mastercard and on the front for AMEX.

Certificate
An x.509 certificate used to authenticate entities such as Merchants and Payment Gateways. Certificates can be used to identify and/or encrypt sensitive data such as card numbers and personal cardholder information.

CGI
Common Gateway Interface: A protocol that allows a Web page to run a program on a Web server. Forms, counters, and guest books are common examples of CGI programs.

Any piece of software can be a CGI program if it handles input and output according to the CGI standard. Usually a CGI program is a small program that takes data from a web server and does something with it, like putting the content of a form into an e-mail message, or turning the data into a database query. CGI “scripts” are just scripts which use CGI. CGI is often confused with Perl, which is a programming language, while CGI is an interface to the server from a particular program.

Client
A computer or software that requests a service of another computer system or process (a “server”). For example, a workstation requesting the contents of a file from a file server is a client of the file server. A web browser is commonly referred to as a client.

Clients and Servers
In general, all of the machines on the Internet can be categorised as two types: servers and clients. Those machines that provide services (like Web servers or FTP servers) to other machines are servers. And the machines that are used to connect to those services are clients.

When you connect to Yahoo at www.google.com to read a page, Google is providing a machine (probably a cluster of very large machines), for use on the Internet, to service your request. Google is providing a server. Your machine, on the other hand, is probably providing no services to anyone else on the Internet. Therefore, it is a user machine, also known as a client. It is possible and common for a machine to be both a server and a client !

Cookie
A file sent by some web servers to your computer’s hard drive to enable you to quickly and easily return to particular sites. Cookies give rise to privacy concerns as they are often used to store information used for marketing purposes.

The main purpose of cookies is to identify users and possibly prepare customised Web pages for them. When you enter a Web site using cookies, you may be asked to fill out a form providing such information as your name and interests. This information is packaged into a cookie and sent to your Web browser which stores it for later use. The next time you go to the same Web site, your browser will send the cookie to the Web server. The server can use this information to present you with custom Web pages. So, for example, instead of seeing just a generic welcome page you might see a welcome page with your name on it.

CRN
The Customer Receipt Number (CRN) is used to assist the card holder, the payment gateway and the transaction acquirer to confirm the transaction has been processed and to track the transaction throughout the end-to-end transaction process. This is often used when making enquiries about a transaction or for transaction tracking.

Cybersquatting
Bad faith, abusive domain name registration. Cybersquatters register company and product names as domain names with a view to selling them at inflated prices to the “rightful” owners.

/CVC
The additional information printed on the card to be processed. This is used to verify if the card was present when the transaction was initiated.  This is the additional digits imprinted on the card usually on the reverse side for VISA & Mastercard and on the front for AMEX.

Database
A collection of data: part numbers, product codes, customer information, etc. It usually refers to data organised and stored on a computer that can be searched and retrieved by a computer program.

Deep link
A hypertext link directly to a web page, often bypassing home pages or other identifying pages.

Digital Certificate
A pop up window that allows you to identify the level of encryption used to secure a particular web site.

Digital Signature
A complex numeric “signature” designed to be used, in conjunction with special software, to authenticate the sender of a message and guarantee that the contents of the message have not been altered during transmission to the recipient. The EU has adopted legislation which makes electronic signatures legally valid. The Electronic Transaction Bill (Cth) 1999 has the same effect in Australia.

Domain Name
The plain English name given to a host destination on the Internet, for example, www.madrock.net. The suffix, dot.com is known as the generic top level domain, the prefix madrock. The domain name forms part of the Internet Address or URL.

A name that identifies one or more IP addresses. For example, the domain name microsoft.com represents about a dozen IP addresses. Domain names are used in URLs to identify particular Web pages. For example, in the URL http://www.madrock.net, the domain name is madrock.net.

Download
To transfer information from one computer to your computer.

Dynamic web page
A web document that is created from a database in real-time or “on the fly” at the same time it is being viewed, providing a continuous flow of new information and giving visitors a new experience each time they visit the web site.

Dynamic web sites offer the user the ability to interact with the web site. This interaction can take place in the form of a search for products, a questionnaire that automatically posts results or online polls. Basically, dynamic web pages and content are generated from the input of the user.

EC
Electronic Commerce.

Often referred to as simply e-commerce, business that is conducted over the Internet using any of the applications that rely on the Internet, such as e-mail, instant messaging, shopping carts, Web services, and FTP, among others. Electronic commerce can be between two businesses transmitting funds, goods, services and/or data or between a business and a customer.

ECI
The Electronic Commerce Indicator (ECI), is used to determine the source of the original transaction request. This is a program that the banks have developed and have mandated it’s use.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
Systems set up by businesses, which facilitate the electronic exchange of information.

Encryption
The process of scrambling data to prevent it being viewed by unauthorized persons.

Expiry Date
The date printed on the card indicating when the card will expire. Not to be confused with the card issue date found on some cards.

Firewall
An electronic security barrier and/or traffic filter.

Forms
Forms are web pages comprised of text and “fields” for a user to fill in with information. They are an excellent way of collecting and processing information from people visiting a web site, as well as allowing them to interact with web pages. Forms are written in HTML and processed by CGI programs.

Frame
A means of dividing a web screen into a number of compartments. Frames may give rise to legal disputes if web sites created by third parties are framed as your own.

FTP servers
One of the oldest of the Internet services, File Transfer Protocol makes it possible to move one or more files securely between computers while providing file security and organisation as well as transfer control.

Fulfilment
1. Process of supplying goods after an order has been received.
2. Process of reacting to a customer’s request, covering everything that has to happen from the time the customer places an order until they are completely satisfied.

Host
Any computer on a network that provides services or information to other computers on the network. A host is also called a server.

Integration
The software and/or business processes which combine the Merchant’s (website, back office, etc.) order processing system with the EFT Network Electronic Payment System.

IP address
Every computer connected to the Internet is assigned a unique number known as an Internet Protocol (IP) address. Since these numbers are usually assigned in country-based blocks, an IP address can often be used to identify the country from which a computer is connecting to the Internet.

Gateway
A system allowing incompatible computer networks to send and receive information.

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)
Language used to translate text documents into a form which can be sent over the web.

Hyperlink
A highlighted phrase in a document which permits linking to another document or part of a document.

Internet Content Host (ICH)
Those who host or propose to host content on the Internet. Anybody who is responsible for a web site, news group or bulletin board that contains articles, graphics or other internet content provided by others. The host may/may not also produce their own content and/or provide access to the Internet through a carriage service, ie they may also be an ISP.

Internet Service Provider (ISP)
A company that provides an Internet connection through some kind of Internet carriage service, for example Sprint, Chello Broadband, Telstra Bigpond, Adam Internet, Internode. ISP’s may/may not also be ICHs.

Mail servers
Almost as ubiquitous and crucial as Web servers, mail servers move and store mail over corporate networks (via LANs and WANs) and across the Internet.

Merchant account
This is an account set up with a bank to process credit card orders from customers.

Merchant
The entity receiving payments for goods and/or services.

Merchant Account
The merchant’s account into which transactions are credited or debited.

Merchant Server
The software installed on the Merchant’s web sites or back office system to enable real-time or batched processing of financial transactions.

Merchant Server Administrator
The individual(s) responsible for the maintenance of the Merchant Server, including issuing and importing merchant certificates.

MTL
Merchant Transaction Layer (MTL)

PAN
Primary Account Number (PAN) is the number printed on the customers card to reference the cardholder’s financial account. This is typically the card number.

Payment Gateway
The Payment Gateway provides a central point of contact/transaction switching with the banking network for the Merchant Server software or devices. The EFT Networks Payment gateway provides advanced integrated reporting, merchant integration services (Mainframe, Mini, Windows, UNIX, OS400, Desktop/Server, EFT PoS Terminals. Loyalty systems, etc.) and Merchant/Bank customised solutions not offered by regional or global banking institutions.

An online system for real-time charging of credit cards when a customer places an order. Normally requires a merchant account.

A common question from merchants is “Do we have to change banks to use payment gateways?”

The answer is NO!  – All you need to do is open a merchant facility with one of the supported banks, EFT Networks can ensure you open the correct one for your transaction needs. The merchant facility is then linked to a nominated bank account for example: Bank of New Zealand, ANZ, St George Bank, NAB, Commonwealth, Westpac, Bank of America, Bank of Scotland, Barclay’s, Bank of Queensland, etc. The money is then transferred at the end of each day from your merchant account to your nominated account.

“Pretty Good Privacy”
A type of encryption program used to scramble data.

Portal
A site that gathers together many sites under a common branding, for example, Yahoo and Excite.

Private key
The password which permits information to be decoded in a public key encryption system.

Public key
The password which is used to send a secure message in a public key encryption system.

Secure Certificate
A document that is used to certify that a user or organisation is who they say they are. They contain information about who it belongs to, who it was issued by, expiry date and information that can be used to check out the contents of the certificate. It is as an important part of the SSL system for establishing secure connections.

Server
A computer that provides a service to other computers (known as clients) on a network.

Shopping cart
A shopping cart is a piece of software that acts as an online store’s catalogue and ordering process. Typically, a shopping cart is the interface between a company’s Web site and its deeper infrastructure, allowing consumers to select merchandise; review what they have selected; make necessary modifications or additions; and purchase the merchandise.

Shopping carts can be sold as independent pieces of software so companies can integrate them into their own unique online solution, or they can be offered as a feature from a service that will create and host a company’s e-commerce site.

Spam
The use of email or newsgroups to send unsolicited information.

SSL
Short for Secure Sockets Layer, a protocol developed by Netscape for transmitting private documents via the Internet. SSL works by using a private key to encrypt data that’s transferred over the SSL connection. Both Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer support SSL, and many Web sites use the protocol to obtain confidential user information, such as credit card numbers. By convention, URLs that require an SSL connection start with https: instead of http:.

Letting your customers know that you have SSL protection gives your site credibility and may encourage customers to deal with you in confidence.

A security protocol used to protect information – typically used between the cardholder’s web browser and the merchant’s webserver and throughout the transaction processing process. 128bit SSL is typical used as a minimum level within the Payment & Financial industries.

A Secure Server uses an SSL certificate. It is generally a piece of web space that can only be dealt with by using SSL ensuring that data transferred between the web space and the browser is encrypted.

Static web page
In web site terms, static means web pages that are not interactive. Because the web site visitor does not have any control over the information provided, the pages and information do not change with each visit. There is not a two-way communication between the user (client) and the web site (server) in a static page.

Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
An Internet address.

Web page
A specific group of related files on the web, which is usually viewed as a single document.

Web servers
At its core, a Web server serves static content to a Web browser by loading a file from a hard disk and serving it across the network to a user’s Web browser. This entire exchange is mediated by the browser and server talking to each other using HTTP.

Web site
A collection of web pages stored on a file server.

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Technology is always being challenged

by Derek on Jun.18, 2008, under RFID

I read a very interesting paper created by the University of Massachusetts, RSA Laboratories and Innealta, Inc.<<

This paper primarily relates to the compromise of contact less payment technologies (RFID) if the RFID and/or reader have not been implemented correctly or the solution provider has used an inappropriate type of RFID and discusses the challenges around Chip and Pin with respect to financial transactions e.g. EMV standards and compliance.

Additionally, the paper describes a RFID relay method which is being discussed within many forums around the world and we have now begun to see equipment being produced for the RFID skimmers/clonners to use for malicious means.

The overarching point of this paper is to use an appropriate RFID & Chip solutions which supports the security/privacy of the user and purpose of the transaction (financial or non financial)<<

The paper can be found at http://prisms.cs.umass.edu/~kevinfu/papers/RFID-CC-manuscript.pdf

In modern payment RFID & Chip solutions, newer devices can be used which possess a high degree of processing power and are therefore able to execute strong cryptographic methods (such as digital signatures) to protect the identification and payment information whilst the transaction is occurring.

These systems often utilise bidirectional authentication between the RFID/Chip scanner and the RFID tag/Chip prior to performing the transaction. These methods and cryptographic algorithms are accepted and proven to work within the traditional payment markets.

As mentioned in the paper, some solution store static digitally signed and/or encrypted data which is provided to the RFID/Chip reader when queried, but this data never changes from one transaction to another. This may allow a malicious individual to capture and re-inject the data into the reader at a later stage. The alternative to storing static digitally signed and/or encrypted data is to negotiate a key exchange at the time of the transaction in which the card/value information is encrypted and subsequently transmitted. With this method the transmitted data
changes on every transaction and therefore even if a malicious individual was to capture the encrypted transaction data from one transaction, this would not be accepted by the reader if re-injected at a later stage.

Although this is the case today, older RFID/Chip solutions often use technologies which are not appropriate for financial transactions and therefore may be compromised easily and in some cases without the knowledge of the card holder, merchant or acquirer.

I find this interesting how some of these less secure solution have been approved for use by acquiring banks and the card schemes around the world (if they were told) in recent years, where it has been seen that these solutions have utilised techniques or deployment methods which can be compromised. These technologies and techniques would never be approved within the Point of Sale (PoS) or traditional banking markets.

It can only be assumed that the need to get product to market quickly at the expense of proper testing, understanding and with due consideration to industry lessons learnt has succeeded again.

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Is there a risk of someone “listening” or “stealing” the information from a contactless card?

by admin on Mar.24, 2008, under RFID

One risk with contactless cards is the ability for the card to be activated when it enters a reader’s RF range without the owner being aware of it. To prevent a contactless card activation without the card owner being aware of it, the application can be configured to always ask for the owner’s authorisation (password, PIN or biometric) before providing any user information or processing on the user’s behalf.

e level of security of communication required between the contactless card and the reader must be defined as part of the system design and security controls must put in place so that un-invited listeners cannot intercept the data in any meaningful way. For example, all of the contactless technologies can use data encryption to protect data on the card and during transmission; this helps to ensure that, if information is intercepted, the information cannot be used by the recipient. It is important that all of the application’s requirements be understood and defined prior to any technology selection and implementation so that the appropriate security features are designed into the system.
Additionally, the contactless chip is designed to self destruct if anyone tries to hack into it.
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New e-Commerce and Payment Technologies Company

by admin on Mar.24, 2008, under Banking and EFTPoS

Recently I came across a new e-Commerce company called EFT Networks, which seems to have an exciting future in the Global Payments Market.

It looks like they have a good mix of consulting and solution design.

www.eftnetworks.com

Services

Electronic Payment

Designed to enable both credit card and direct debit, EFT Networks electronic payment solutions work effectively across multiple sales channels—including Web, Contact Call Centre, IVR and EFTPOS. Manage your payment processing system in-house or outsource, depending on your business needs.

Global Payments

International commerce requires fully integrated global payment and risk management solutions. Requirements span the gamut of payment acceptance considerations from accepting local payment types, pricing in local currencies and dynamically updating prices with changes in exchange rates (dynamic currency conversion), authorising and settling in multiple currencies, to managing fraud and compliance issues such as tax and export regulations. EFT Networks offers a single interface to the global payment network to handle all of these considerations as your business grows.

ICE – Reporting & Management

The EFT Networks Enterprise Business Center gives you a single, easy-to-use interface for managing and configuring payment processing services.

ICE caters for each area of the payment transaction cycle from authentication, authorisation, settlement, dispute resolution and reconciliation – enabling our clients to reduce transaction costs, eliminate fraud, minimise risk, maximise cash flow and increase profitability.

Integrations

EFT Networks provides flexible and secure payment and risk management integrations in to host and legacy systems as well as industry-leading software.

Using industry standards and protocols, our solutions can be customised to suit your exact business requirements

Products

ICE (Intelligent Communications Exchange)

At the core is our Intelligent Communications Exchange (ICE) which enables all known transaction enablers from EFTPOS to eCommerce to be routed directly to a client’s bank without intervention for real time acceptance and authentication.

The EFT Networks ICE operates under a philosophy of total System and Physical redundancy delivering the highest uptime rates possible, whilst the transaction network is protected using Solid State and Application Firewalls on all points of ingress and egress.

Every transaction processed through EFT Networks is encrypted using 128 bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption and submitted for authorisation through EFT Networks “Secure Virtual Private Network” (SVPN).

Our commitment to security is also reflected in our swift compliance with Card Schemes security initiatives such as VerifiedByVisa and MasterCard SecureCode.

EFT Networks comprehensive suit of online reporting tools combined with daily transaction reports will ensure that our clients always have access to up-to-date management information allowing Business Managers to make quick and well-informed business decisions. The decision making process is simplified even further with the power of daily reports that are customised to be imported into most existing legacy systems.

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