Square Credit Card Processing Security-Is it Skimmer Safe?

Are your Customer's Proctected?

I wrote (in a previous blog) about Square credit card reader’s vulnerability to skimming because it cannot encrypt cardholder data. Square’s reader lacks a processor and power circuits, relying on the phone to digitize and encrypt data. This places cardholder data “out in the open’” for anyone to grab and use illegally.

Well…Verifone, a global leader in secure electronic payment technologies, did just that! Used Square and Skimmed.

Here is what Verifone stated in an open letter, “In less than an hour, any reasonably skilled programmer can write an application that can skim or steal a consumer’s financial and personal information right off the card utilizing an easily obtained Square card reader. How do we know? We did it. Tested on sample Square card readers with our own personal credit cards, we wrote an application in less than an hour that did exactly this.”

Pretty scary considering that anyone can obtain a Square credit card reader.

For more information on PCI compliant, encrypted, secure mobile credit card processing solutions like PAYware Mobile, ROAMpay Mobile, and AprivaPay visit www.paymentmax.com.