Security breach expert at Oberthur Technologies available to comment on holiday fraud during Black Friday and Cyber Monday

CHANTILLY, Va., November 28, 2014

1.            Why would hackers really care about Black Friday or Cyber Monday? 

“It’s a criminal’s best pay day with holiday sales expected to account for approximately 19.2 percent of the retail industry’s annual sales of $3.2 trillion, according to the NRF.  The influx of shoppers swamp retailers as seasonal workers try to step up to handle the burden. It’s a big party for hackers, and this holiday season the criminals are even more focused on the U.S. because they’ve had success here dating back to the Target breach last year,” said Martin Ferenczi, president of Oberthur Technologies in the United States. “The largest, most developed countries internationally already have next-generation payment technology in place which makes us an easy mark and the easiest to hack. Many of these countries were late to adopt credit card technology, but once they did, they moved past the U.S. by implementing cutting edge, more secure products and services.”

2.            So what do people really need to know about EMV chip cards?

“EMV technology is more secure than magstripes and will lower your risk of credit card fraud,” OT’s Ferenczi said. “While not required to do so, most issuers and merchants will be EMV-friendly by October 2015 to avoid being liable for fraudulent transactions. Credit and debit cards with EMV chips will be used a little differently to pay for things than the traditional magstripe – you insert instead of swipe – but it’s an easy switch. EMV debit cards are trailing behind EMV credit cards, but they do exist and will catch up.”

3.            The payment industry ecosystem works best when it works together to provide a complete solution for digital security. What consumers want really does matter.

 “This is not a problem just for the retailers or banks. The problem must be owned by the consumer,” OT’s Ferenczi said. “Card holders must go beyond updating their passwords and ask their favorite retailers to take action and implement smart payment technologies. Many retailers already have point of sale terminals in place that could accept next-generation payment cards and mobile wallet solutions. It’s often as simple as flipping a switch to activate them.

“What consumers want really matters, and retailers do take notice,” he added. “If secured payments matter – and they should – consumers have to change their behavior and take action. Moral outrage is not enough.”  

4.            What is the next big thing in payment security?

“Once a country migrates to chip cards, fraud has historically moved online,” OT’s Ferenczi said. “New dynamic CVV from Oberthur Technologies protects against card not present or online fraud by providing security numbers on the back of each card that change every 20 minutes, every hour or whatever timeframe the issuer specifies. The numbers appear on a mini screen powered by a small battery. Without the correct CVV, any stolen card data is useless, thus preventing fraudulent transactions.”

Download HD videos that show the EMV chip card personalization and fulfillment processes: http://tinyurl.com/ObertherEMVcards

OT has successfully led more than 250 banks through migration to EMV, has provided EMV cards to 80 percent of the top issuers in the U.S. and delivered more than 1.5 billion EMV cards worldwide. EMV is a global interoperability standard that embeds a computer chip into each card to store the cardholder’s account details and create a unique, encrypted code for each transaction.

ABOUT OBERTHUR TECHNOLOGIES

OT is a world leader in digital security solutions for the mobility space. OT has always been at the heart of mobility, from the first smart cards to the latest contactless payment technologies which equip millions of smartphones. Present in the Payment, Telecommunications and Identity markets, OT offers end-to-end solutions in the Smart Transactions, Mobile Financial Services, Machine-to-Machine, Digital Identity and Transport & Access Control fields. OT employs over 6,000 employees worldwide, including 600 R&D people. With more than 50 sales offices across 5 continents and 10 facilities, OT’s international network serves clients in 140 countries. For more information: www.oberthur.com.