Intel Introduces Data Protection Technology For Transactions

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

New Technology To Bridge Security Gap And Internet Of Things

“It’s never been more important, or more difficult, for retailers to manage and protect data across the payment ecosystem,” Karen Webster, CEO, Market Platform Dynamics said in a company statement.

That is precisely why Intel has introduced its new Data Protection Technology for Transactions, the industry’s first solution that provides end-to-end encryption of consumer and financial data built directly into POS platforms.  The new system promises to deliver a higher level of security from beginning to end of a transaction.

“Intel’s Data Protection Technology for Transactions security architecture does the obvious thing – it separates transaction processing from the POS – making that data less accessible and therefore more likely to be out of the reach of hackers. That can only help give both retailers and consumers more confidence that their POS experience is secure,”  explained Webster.

The new system adds an additional protect layer of software to the payment process, assisting in closing gaps in data transmission between POS devices and that data center. It also works in concert with EMV credit card authorizations, tokenization, and other data protection technologies already in use.

“This solution introduces a significant improvement in today’s retail transaction data protection without costly hardware upgrades, and provides retailers a path for adopting new Internet of Things technologies,” Michelle Tinsley, director of Mobility Retail and Payments, Intel explained in the statement. “It also sets the stage to expand to other industries such as financial services, healthcare or even government agencies.”

The recent rash of data breaches that has hit retailers particularly hard (most notably the Target breach last year) has both consumers and retailers concerned about data security.  This development is an effort to help calm those fears and support the proliferation of the Internet of Things in the retail world.

“Consumers and retailers need solutions that help narrow the risk of information making its way into the wrong hands,” Chris Lybeer, vice president of Strategic Development at NCR, said in the statement. “NCR and Intel recognized the need to add a new level of security into transactional systems. With Intel Data Protection Technology for Transactions, in conjunction with NCR DataGuard, all important data from consumer information to payments to confidential business information are shielded from possible misuse.”

“Intel’s technology provides a level of communication and lockdown below the software level, thus providing a verification and security level that normal human error will not have an effect on”, Greg Buzek, president of market research firm IHL Group, told PC World.

According to Buzek, citing a security report from Verizon, the majority of  security currently in use is software based and over 90 percent of retail breaches are a result of  password issues, Buzek said,.

“This is a critical technology for retailers who have far flung stores and branches, with a myriad of devices connected,” Buzek said.

Intel intends to market the chip technology to manufacturers of point-of-sale (POS) systems, PCs and mobile payment terminals. NCR, the world’s largest maker of payment terminals, has agreed to include Data Protection Technology for Transactions on its products.