AutoGas: POS system meets card industry’s security standards

AutoGas Systems responded to a research firm’s finding that point-of-sale (POS) systems are vulnerable to identity thieves. mp1

AutoGas, Abilene, Texas, offers Regal POS Streamline2 software, which complies with the Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP) to meet security validation and data encryption standards as set by the Payment Card Industry (PCI), AutoGas said in a July 2 statement.

AutoGas Systems, said it met validation of CISP standards in its Streamline2 release in early 2007 and has made the technology available to all AutoGas POS customers.

Avivah Litan, a vice president of Gartner Inc., Stamford, Conn., said at a Gartner conference in London on June 25 that using a credit card at a gas station could pose more of a risk for data theft than shopping online, as point-of-sale terminals have emerged as a weak link in the security chain, according to an article by Jeremy Kirk in PC World.

AutoGas said the issue of cardholder identity theft at the gas pump was also raised in a June 27 Fox News report by Shepard Smith and WIRED Magazine senior editor Nicholas Thompson. Thompson asserted that the industry needed to do more to protect cardholder data against identity theft.

Steve Covington, chief technology officer of AutoGas Systems, said, “Whenever technology is involved, there is a risk that it may be compromised. AutoGas with its Streamline2 release has taken extensive measures, mandated by the card issuers – Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and JCB – to ensure that cardholder data is encrypted and not stored in the clear. We have been working with all of our retailers to educate them on the risks associated with storing cardholder data. Ultimately, the onus is on the retailers to secure their respective networks. Secure POS technology is available and AutoGas will continue to work with its customers to help them properly configure their POS systems and meet PCI standards.” Pay-at-the-pump is built upon the same platform as that of an ATM. The technology was recently recognized by USA Today as one that has changed American consumers’ lives.