ARX Enhances PIN-Verification Security

Petach Tikva, Israel, March 16, 2003

ARX Ltd, a leading developer of security solutions for Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) transactions, announced today the introduction of a unique mechanism for preventing verification attacks.

This significant verification security enhancement is included in the newly released version of ARX's PrivateServer/EMV. This mechanism prevents verification attacks of insiders by blocking verification functions such as PIN verification, PVV, CVV etc. PrivateServer/EMV detects the verification attack and provides evidence to the Administrator for such an attack. In the meantime, PrivateServer/EMV will disable its verification operations until it receives an acknowledgement from the Administrator.

PrivateServer/EMV is ARX's high-performance Hardware Security Module (HSM) targeted at the financial and PKI markets. In the financial market, PrivateServer/EMV secures financial and payment transactions, and is used for PIN (Personal Identification Number) verification both in the legacy magnetic-stripe environment and in the new EMV standard. In the PKI market, PrivateServer also serves as a signing engine HSM for the emerging market of digital-signature applications.

An additional remarkable feature of PrivateServer/EMV is its speed: the capacity to perform over 1800 PIN verification transactions per second and 150 RSA signatures per second. Furthermore, PrivateServer/EMV is highly secure and is FIPS 140-1 level 3 certified.

“PIN verification attacks are a serious problem, causing grave concern to many financial institutions around the world,” says Jony Rosenne, CEO of QSM, a financial software development and consulting company. "ARX's PrivateServer/EMV has unique capabilities, which enabled the development of this important verification failure mechanism enabling a highly secure environment for PIN numbers and a true solution against brute force verification attacks".

PrivateServer/EMV is already installed at dozens of financial organizations worldwide including leading banks and credit card companies in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Israel, and across Europe.

About PrivateServer

PrivateServer is ARX’s highly secure (FIPS 140-2 Level 3), network attached, Hardware Security Module (HSM) that provides a secure environment for data encryption. PrivateServer conducts sensitive cryptographic operations, secure key storage, and management of a large number of keys. For more information visit http://www.arx.com/products/hsm.php.

About ARX

Algorithmic Research (ARX) is a leading global provider of electronic-signature and data-security solutions. ARX engineers and scientists have more than 20 years of experience in security-related applications. ARX helps businesses secure, streamline, and scale their business processes and transactions with the proper controls required by legislation, regulation, and industry best practices. Visit us at http://www.arx.com.