Secure POS Vendor Alliance Announces Lab Partnership with Witham Laboratories

Witham to be first lab to test SPVA’s end-to-end encryption requirements

ATLANTA, GA – August 11, 2011 – The Secure POS Vendor Alliance (SPVA), a non-profit business organization founded by Hypercom (NYSE: HYC), Ingenico S.A. (EURONEXT: ING) and VeriFone (NYSE: PAY), is pleased to announce a partnership with Witham Laboratories, a leading provider of information security evaluations with expertise in the payment industry. The Australian-based consultant will serve as SPVA’s first Lab Network member and will focus on testing SPVA’s end-to-end encryption security requirements.

The SPVA Lab Network is designed to facilitate the closing of gaps in security payment process compliance by ensuring certain aspects of technology and applied processes are subject to independent verification and standard guidelines. The process allows end-users and customers a method for establishing an independent and credible review of an implementation of SPVA best practices and provides them with options to ensure their compliance is verified.

Introduced in late 2009, SPVA’s end-to-end security requirements are targeted to vendors of POS devices in order to create a secure payment cycle. Key elements covered by the SPVA approved standard that will be tested by Witham Laboratories include:

• Data to be encrypted during transmission
• Key management
• Physical and logistical security of TRSM and key components
• Encryption monitoring and management systems

"Payment data remains constantly under threat by hackers, and end-to-end encryption represents one of the best ways to ensure the protection of customers’ card data,” said Mario Sist, operations manager at Witham Laboratories. “Witham Laboratories is proud to be the first member of the SPVA Lab Network, and are pleased to add testing against the SPVA end-to-end encryption requirements to our existing testing portfolio.  This new accreditation allows us to remain a 'one stop shop' for all compliance needs when it comes to securing payment data."

The following are requirements for eligibility in the SPVA Lab Network: Provide information security evaluations in the POS industry; Authorized Qualified Security Assessor (QSA); Provide evaluations in the PIN entry and device security; Approved by the Payment Card Industry to evaluate compliance with the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), the Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA DSS) and accredited to test PIN Entry Devices for compliance with the compulsory PCI standards (PCI PED).

“Members of the Lab Network work together to share best practices and to raise the security level within the point of sale industry,” said Steven Hughes, SPVA president. “We are pleased to have Witham Laboratories as our first member. Witham is recognized as one of the leading security experts in the payment card industry and their combination of accreditations and technical knowledge makes them truly unique.”

To learn more about the SPVA and how to participate in and benefit from the Lab Network, visit www.spva.org.

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About Secure POS Vendor Alliance (www.spva.org)
The Secure POS Vendor Alliance (SPVA) is a non-profit organization, founded by Hypercom (NYSE: HYC), Ingenico S.A. (EURONEXT: ING) and VeriFone (NYSE: PAY), that works with the multiple stakeholders of the payment value chain. Its aim is to develop an end-to-end security framework and to enhance security elements of payment solutions which protect cardholder information and defend merchants and acquirers against security breaches, while helping reducing fraud and lowering risk for all electronic payment stakeholders.

About Witham Laboratories (www.withamlabs.com)

A leading provider of specialist payment security evaluation services, Witham Laboratories is accredited to perform evaluations and audits against local and global security standards including all PCI standards (PCI PTS, PCI DSS, and PA DSS). With its head office in Melbourne, Australia, Witham Laboratories has clients around the globe, and works directly with vendors of POS and PIN entry devices, merchants, acquirers and card schemes, to assist in their understanding and compliance to the payment standards. Witham Laboratories is an active member of many global industry standards bodies, and uses its intimate knowledge of these standards to provide the best possible service and advice to its clients.

Editorial Contacts:
Mike Rieman/Kate Grusich
SPVA
404.816.2037
678.467-9297 Mobile

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