nCipher Announces New payShield Product Line to Help Combat Online Payment Card Fraud

Business Wire, Sept 16, 2002

Business & High-Tech Editors

CAMBRIDGE, U.K.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 16, 2002

New Hardware Security Module to support initiatives by

MasterCard International and Visa for more secure Internet and

smart card-based transactions

nCipher plc (LSE:NCH), a leading provider of cryptographic IT security solutions, today announces the launch of payShield(TM), an advanced hardware security module (HSM) designed specifically for the payment processing market.

payShield provides a high performance tamper-resistant security platform to protect cryptographic keys and cardholder authentication processes thereby enabling banks, payment processing service providers and credit card issuers to meet latest industry best practices. payShield is the first HSM to satisfy both the cryptographic security and performance requirements of major initiatives by MasterCard International and Visa to help tackle the escalating costs associated with the fraudulent use of credit cards for online purchases.

payShield is being launched in response to new programs such as MasterCard's Authentication Program, based on the Universal Cardholder Authentication Field (UCAF), and Verified by Visa, based on the 3-D Secure protocol, and represents the convergence of traditional payment processing and Internet security techniques to deliver highly scalable cardholder authentication systems. As part of these initiatives both MasterCard and Visa have defined new techniques for identifying and validating the person making a purchase as well as the credit or debit card used for the transaction. One of the common security requirements established by both MasterCard and Visa is the use of cryptographic hardware security modules, such as nCipher's payShield, to underpin the security of the various cryptographic functions which make up the enrollment and authentication process.

"Initiatives such as 3-D Secure and UCAF are gaining mass acceptance as online banks and merchants understand that there are immediate financial benefits from participation. By mandating the use of a high-grade security infrastructure in order to be a part of the initiatives, there is a real motivation for banks to follow best practice security measures and install the latest in security technology," said Rob Deane, senior analyst, Datamonitor. "With payShield, nCipher has shown that it understands the unique needs of the e-payment space with a hardware security module (HSM) designed to support a variety of e-payment initiatives."

nCipher has partnered with leading e-payment solution providers Arcot Systems and Cyota to ensure full interoperability, optimal performance and ease of deployment for card issuers. In supporting MasterCard's Authentication Program (UCAF and SPA) and Visa 3-D Secure, Arcot TransFort(TM) and Cyota SecureSuite(TM) software products employ nCipher's payShield to perform specific cryptographic functions including; protecting the database of cardholder information through encryption, performing cardholder verification processes and creating digitally signatures to confirm cardholder authentication to merchants creating a legally binding record of the process. payShield, which is currently undergoing validation to meet the exacting FIPS 140-2 Level 3 security standard, also provides high-speed cryptographic acceleration to overcome the heavy processing burden associated with these functions. As a result, payShield significantly increases system capacity and reduces the need for additional servers, a particularly important factor as adoption of the MasterCard and Visa systems becomes widespread.

"Online fraud is a growing global concern and nCipher and Arcot have been working together to provide a solution to ensure safe and more secure online transactions for consumers, merchants and banks," said Ram Varadarajan, President and CEO of Arcot Systems. "Being the first vendor to ensure that nCipher's payShield HSM is operational in this environment, we are jointly able to deliver valuable levels of security and assurance. Therefore, today, we can help card issuers take advantage of MasterCard and Visa's programs, which are anticipated by the associations to reduce e-commerce disputes by up to 80 percent."

"We're extremely pleased to be working with nCipher and can offer innovative 3-D Secure-based solutions to banks and merchants so they can securely authenticate their cardholders when authorizing an online transaction," remarked Amir Orad, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at Cyota. "payShield will be integrated with Cyota's SecureSuite Platform and utilized in MasterCard SPA and Verified by Visa installations which will give MasterCard and Visa cardholders greater confidence to shop online"

"With initiatives such as MasterCard's Authentication Program (UCAF and SPA) and Verified by Visa and the continued adoption of e-commerce, there are clear signs of convergence between the traditional payment processing market and the latest Internet security techniques to protect sensitive cardholder information, validate an individual's identity and bring provability to electronic transactions," said Richard Moulds, vice president of Marketing at nCipher. "payShield builds on nCipher's core expertise and extends our reach into the payment processing market, which is forecast to reach $2.4Bn by 2005(1), and represents a tremendous new market opportunity for the company."