Infinite Peripherals Testifies At California Senate Joint Informational Hearing

Mobile POS device leader discusses protecting consumers’ payment information at retail

Infinite Peripherals, Inc. (IPC) the leading developer of mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) devices, was invited to present testimony at a recent joint informational hearing of the California Senate Judiciary and Senate Banking and Financial Institution Committees to educate state legislators about data security and fraud prevention in the electronic payment environment at retail.

Held in Sacramento on Feb. 25, the hearing examined data breach law and identity theft prevention, the mechanics of electronic payment systems, PCI security standards, EMV and chip and PIN technology and more. Among those providing testimony were representatives from the Federal Trade Commission, TransUnion, VISA, Master Card Worldwide, First Data and Debit Network Alliance. 

“We appreciate being asked to help educate the California state legislature on this critical issue of payment security,” said Andrew Graham, president of IPC, which operates its mobility headquarters out of Irvine, Calif. “Given our leadership in mobile payments, we’re uniquely positioned to explain how the latest hardware technology is designed to help combat these threats.”

Payment Security Multi-layered
At the hearing, Jennifer Brown, the strategic relationship and program manager at IPC, delivered a brief overview of IPC’s popular mobile peripherals and principal points of the payment technology. The Linea Pro and Infinea Tab add a magnetic stripe reader (MSR), encrypted MSR or PCI-certified encrypted MSR, along with an optional barcode scanner, RFID or Bluetooth chip to the Apple iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. These peripherals work with custom software to facilitate mPOS and other merchant operations.

Both the encrypted MSR model and the PCI PTS 3.1 SRED encrypted MSR unit encrypt mag stripe data at the point of swipe. Incorporating these models is the first step in an end-to-end encryption (E2EE) payment ecosystem.  In addition to encryption, the PCI-certified MSR supports active mechanical and electrical monitoring. If either mechanical or electrical tampering is detected, the encryption key is wiped and the MSR is rendered unusable.

The new Infinea Bluepad also incorporates an encrypted MSR PIN pad and a contact chip reader, which communicates over Bluetooth. The Infinea Bluepad is PCI PTS 3.1 SRED certified and features a chip reader and PIN pad, enabling support of chip cards in a Chip and PIN fashion.

While security of IPC’s PCI-encrypted hardware models is preeminent, this hardware is only one part of a complex system and cannot safeguard against every type of data breach, Brown testified.

“Transactions are touched multiple times in the payment chain, and while hardware encryption may prevent certain attacks, it cannot protect against all attacks,” said Brown. “The security of the payment ecosystem is multi-layered, and each component should be analyzed for security. Certain technologies may cure some types of breaches, but there is no single cure-all for all attacks.”

To date, IPC has provided more than 400,000 of its mobile hardware devices to retailers ranging from Tier 1 to small businesses, as well as companies in the hospitality, transportation and entertainment industries.

The informational hearing can be viewed at http://calchannel.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=7&clip_id=1844.

About Infinite Peripherals
Since 1993, Infinite Peripherals, Inc. (IPC) has been fueling mobility with cutting-edge mobile peripheral devices, receipt printers, mechanisms and receipt printer-related components. Numerous major retailers in the United States are moving to mobile POS with IPC’s Linea Pro and Infinea Tab, helping to transform shopping, drive traffic and increase customer conversion rates. Anticipating trends and pre-empting solutions for a constantly evolving business landscape, IPC enhances operations in retail and other industries, including healthcare, hospitality, transportation, warehouse and logistics, entertainment and security. For more information, visit www.ipcprint.com.