Tag: mobile security

Security standards are set to be implemented in the US in October of this year

The payments industry in the United States is poised for a major shift late this year. In October, liability for fraudulent transactions will move from card companies to retailers if these retailers have not invested in point-of-sale terminals that accept chip-based payments. The shift is meant to address issues concerning the safety of electronic transactions, which has been brought to light by the growing prominence of mobile commerce.

Standards will require retailers to invest in chip-based payment terminals

New security standards will require credit and debit cards to be equipped with a chip that will make transactions more secure. This shift happened more than a decade ago in several European countries and similar security standards are becoming more common throughout the world. In the United States, however, it has taken much longer for these standards to take hold, due to the complexities of the country’s financial structure and the retail industry. Retailers have been particularly resistant to having to fund new payment terminals in order to avoid liability issues.

Security standards could boost the adoption of mobile commerce

For those interested in mobile commerce, the new security standards could be seen as a boon. Security has long been an issue that the mobile world has had to manage, and the issue has become more important to address with the growing number of people using their smartphones to make purchases. The new point-of-sale terminals that retailers will have to adopt will support NFC-based transactions, which will make it easier for consumers with mobile devices to use their smartphones to pay for products in physical stores.

Card companies are pushing for security standards to take effect

October 1 is the deadline for retailers to incorporate chip-based payment terminals. There is some speculation that the implementation of security standards will be delayed, but this may cause a loss of faith in the standards themselves. Card companies are eager to have these standards instituted as soon as possible in order to bolster the security of the digital payments industry.

The announcement of the purchase of the Israeli company has now been officially made.

Check Point Software Technologies has now officially announced the acquisition of the Israel based Lacoon Mobile Security business, following a slew of reports that had appeared throughout March.

Last month’s reports had suggested that the companies had been in talks for an $80 million purchase.

As of the writing of this article, the actual price of the sale of the mobile security company had not been released. That said, the deal has now officially closed and has been announced by the companies. This purchase of Lacoon will hand Check Point an important piece in the smartphone and tablet based security puzzle. This will allow it to step its offerings up from the standard mobile device management that is the foundation of many of its rivals. This, according to the vice president of business development at Check Point, Alon Kantor.

Adding mobile security to device management can provide an entirely new level to remote services.

Typically speaking, mobile device management has to do with providing IT with control over a smartphone or tablet in a remote way, so that actions can be taken such as removing corporate data from a personal device if an employee should leave the business, or even completely wiping a stolen phone.

What makes Lacoon unique is the way in which it looks at mobile device security. Kantor described it by saying that “MDM manages the devices and the applications while the Lacoon solution is about securing these devices and blocking advanced mobile threats such as malware, [advanced persistent threats] or targeted network attacks.”

This functions with both Android and iOS based devices. It collects data with regards to threats and then complements any other existing security infrastructure that a company has put into place. This could provide Check Point with a very powerful mobile security tool, according to Constellation Research principal, R. Ray Wang. He explained that instead of having to depend on the reaction of MDM to a threat to security, once it has already happened, Lacoon protects proactively to protect against the attacks in the first place.