Current News

The Future of Fraud Protection?
Main Street
March 2, 2010 

The British are coming, but this time it’s all about a new type of credit card that may change the way U.S. consumers use their plastic. It’s called “chip and PIN” and here’s how it’s set to change your credit card life — if it ever makes it over the big pond.

Typically, the average credit card uses that ubiquitous magnetic stripe (after years of using a mechanical imprint on the front end of the card) to record transactions. While there has hardly been an uproar for change in the way card transactions are processed, the “old” way of using magnetic stripes and numerical imprints to process transactions does leave card owners vulnerable to theft and fraud. READ MORE...

Credit card data security: Who's responsible?
Netwrok World
February 11, 2010

About a year ago security at Heartland Payment Systems Inc. was breached and information affecting more than 100 million credit cards stolen. Was it Heartland's fault, or should the credit card companies shoulder more of the responsibility?

The experts: Phil Lieberman, CEO of Lieberman Software, argues that Heartland met its legal obligations and the breach was not the company's fault, but rather due to the lack of smart card technology that credit card issuers refuse to issue in the United States.

Henry Helgeson, CEO of Merchant Warehouse, argues that it's the job of merchant account providers like his company (and Heartland), to take the security measures necessary to prevent breaches, but enhancing existing cards could help. READ MORE...

Attempted Hacker Attacks in Healthcare on the Rise
Healthcare IT News
January 27, 2010

ATLANTA – The information security service SecureWorks, which protects 82 healthcare companies in the United States, reported Tuesday that attempted hacker attacks aimed at its clients doubled in the fourth quarter of 2009.

While the first nine months of the year averaged 6,500 attack attempts per day, the last three months saw that number leap to 13,400, SecureWorks reports. Most striking about those figures is that other companies protected by the firm saw no similar increase. READ MORE...

In The Boardroom With... Mr. Neville Pattinson, Vice President of Standards and Government Affairs, Gemalto North America
SecurityStockWatch.com
November 12, 2009

SecurityStockWatch.com: Thank you for joining us today, Neville. Please give us an overview of your background and your role at Gemalto.

Neville Pattinson: I currently lead the Government Programs activity within the Security business unit of Gemalto North America. In this role, I focus on government based e-documents and identity credentials. This focus has provided several opportunities to be an advisor to U.S. government policy makers, program managers and key technology partners providing products and services to the federal government. In addition to this role, I am the chairman of the Smart Card Alliance and chair of the Smart Card Alliance’s Identity Council; a founding member of the Secure ID Coalition and am currently serving a three year appointment to the Department of Homeland Security’s Data Protection and Integrity Advisory Committee. Any views expressed in this interview are not representative of the Smart Card Alliance or the Department of Homeland Security or the DHS DPIAC. READ MORE...

Study: Healthcare isn't ready for new security rules
Health Care News
November 12, 2009

OAK BROOK, IL – A recent survey of healthcare organizations found that 94 percent aren't ready to comply with the privacy and security provision of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which take effect next February.

The survey of 77 U.S. healthcare organizations was conducted by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by Crowe Horwath LLP, one of the largest public accounting and consulting firms in the United States.

The HITECH Act extends the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act's (HIPAA) rules for security and privacy safeguards, including increased enforcement, penalties and audits. READ MORE...

Features: Identity Crisis: DHS chief Janet Napolitano treads a fine line between security and privacy in the push to get federal ID programs off the ground
Government Executive
September 1, 2009

When Janet Napolitano was awaiting confirmation as secretary of the Homeland Security Department, one of the senators she stopped in to visit on Capitol Hill was Republican George Voinovich of Ohio.

He had some blunt questions for the Arizona governor about the 2005 REAL ID Act, the controversial law that requires all American driver's licenses to meet federal anti-fraud standards. A former governor himself, Voinovich saw the $4 billion REAL ID program as a massive, unfunded mandate.

To his delight, Napolitano didn't raise a finger to defend the program, enacted under President Bush. On the contrary, she wholeheartedly agreed with the senator's complaints, Voinovich recalls. In fact, as governor she signed legislation barring her state from fully cooperating with REAL ID. "She gets it," he says. READ MORE...