Payment Card and Data Security Leaders Predict Transformation in Merchant Card Data Management

BEDFORD, Mass., June 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Today RSA, the Security Division of EMC (NYSE: EMC) released a new security brief detailing how advanced security technologies can be combined with emerging outsourced services to relieve merchants of the growing burden of storing electronic payment card information.  In the brief, "Secure Payment Services: Card Data Security Transformed," experts from companies including RSA, First Data Corporation and Visa urge merchants to rethink how they manage card data, asserting that they can gain better business insight and value without having to keep card numbers at all.

When it comes to maintaining credit card data, merchants face increasing challenges as IT demands expand, PCI requirements escalate and credit card thieves grow more sophisticated.  Within this environment, the new RSA Security Brief introduces a model for outsourcing credit card data security called "secure payment services."  Secure payment services transfer safeguarding card information to outside service providers, improving electronic card data security while simultaneously reducing the time, complexity and cost of achieving PCI compliance for merchants.  

"The benefits of secure payment services can be significant. We believe many merchants will move to an outsourced services model by 2015," said Craig Tieken, Vice President, Merchant Product Management, First Data.  "As the merchant responsibilities associated with storing payment card data continue to increase, these new centralized repositories allow merchants to preserve all the marketing and operational advantages of tracking card information while transferring a large portion of the risk by removing the card numbers from the merchant's card environment.  This shift will create a new industry standard for securely processing credit, debt and other payment card transactions."

Tokenization and Encryption Play Essential Role

RSA's new Security Brief outlines how next-generation payment processing services take advantage of end-to-end data encryption and a newer technology called "tokenization."  Data encryption obscures card numbers by scrambling them in a reversible format.  Tokenization replaces card numbers altogether with safe proxies that can't be fraudulently used for purchases, but still allow merchants to track and analyze the customer purchasing behaviors associated with each payment card.  The security brief describes a model for using end-to-end encryption and tokenization together to render card numbers unusable when intercepted by thieves.  

"Secure payment services based on encryption and tokenization will radically transform how most merchants handle payment card data," said Sam Curry, RSA's Chief Technologist.  "Just as bank accounts insured by the FDIC provided a better way for people to save cash than stashing it inside their mattresses, this new generation of outsourced secure payment card services will provide a way for merchants to track and use payment card data that is vastly superior to keeping actual card numbers within the enterprise."

RSA Security Brief on Secure Payment Services Now Available

RSA's latest security brief, "Secure Payment Services: Card Data Security Transformed" examines the external conditions fueling the need to rethink traditional payment paradigms, the innovative technologies that are enabling new approaches within the enterprise and the opportunities driving the risk of outsourced secure payment services.  The brief also provides practical guidance on what merchants should look for when evaluating secure payment services providers.  The brief is available to download from RSA's website at: http://www.rsa.com/document.aspx?id=10990

An RSA Speaking of Security Podcast is also available featuring RSA's Branden Williams addressing why he believes merchants will be adopting the Secure Payment Services model to manage payment card risk. 

Authors of the RSA Security Brief include many of the industry's foremost leaders in payment card security:

• Dr. Anton Chuvakin, Principal, Security Warrior Consulting
• Sam Curry, Chief Technology Officer, Global Marketing, RSA, the Security Division of EMC
• Robert Griffin, Director of Solution Design, Data Security Group, RSA, The Security Division of EMC
• Craig Tieken, Vice President, Merchant Product Management, First Data
• Branden Williams, Director, Security Consulting, RSA Security Practice of EMC Consulting
• Steven Wilson, Vice President, Payment Security and Reputational Compliance, Visa Europe

RSA Security Briefs are designed to provide IT leaders with essential guidance on today's most pressing information security risks and opportunities.  Each Security Brief is created by a select response team of experts who mobilize across organizations to share specialized knowledge on a critical emerging topic.  Offering both big-picture insight and practical technology advice, RSA Security Briefs are vital reading for today's forward-thinking security practitioners.

About RSA

RSA, The Security Division of EMC, is the premier provider of security solutions for business acceleration, helping the world's leading organizations succeed by solving their most complex and sensitive security challenges. RSA's information-centric approach to security guards the integrity and confidentiality of information throughout its lifecycle -- no matter where it moves, who accesses it or how it is used.

RSA offers industry-leading solutions in identity assurance & access control, data loss prevention, encryption & key management, compliance & security information management and fraud protection. These solutions bring trust to millions of user identities, the transactions that they perform, and the data that is generated. For more information, please visit www.RSA.com and www.EMC.com.

About EMC

EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) is the world's leading developer and provider of information infrastructure technology and solutions that enable organizations of all sizes to transform the way they compete and create value from their information.  Information about EMC's products and services can be found at www.EMC.com.

RSA and EMC are either registered trademarks or trademarks of EMC Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.  All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE EMC Corporation