Through the partnership, the two companies have worked together to integrate Voltage SecureData technology with Thales hardware security modules (HSMs) for customers, Heartland Payment Systems being an example.

The Thales and Voltage technology integration allows customers to apply hardened data protection measures at virtually any point along the data path to help achieve the goal of end-to-end protection. By helping to reduce the time and complexity of deploying data protection and by significantly limiting the scope of security audits, the burden of demonstrating regulatory and internal compliance is dramatically reduced. The technology integration builds on Voltage SecureDataTM to protect data without having to make expensive changes to the point of sales (POS) infrastructure, database and business applications. The encryption and key management process is protected by Thales nShield Connect hardware security modules - part of the nCipher product line - to ensure the security and integrity of the overall solution. Beyond initial deployment, Voltage and Thales encryption and key management solutions further simplify the ongoing management and operation for customers.

End-to-End Encryption is increasingly the leading method of securing data throughout the payment stream and for enterprise security applications. For organizations subject to PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard), using hardware security modules (HSM) solutions further reduces the scope of PCI audits - reducing the time and money required for compliance.

"With Heartland End-to-End Encryption (E3), Heartland is raising the bar in retail payments security, beyond existing security mandates, by deploying End-to-End Encryption to protect cardholder and sensitive authentication data throughout the payment acquiring network," says Steve Elefant, chief information officer, at Heartland Payment Systems. "The Voltage solution integrated with Thales HSMs just works aks and, in a matter of weeks rather than months, delivered the data protection and key management that Heartland needs to move the payments industry forward."

"The goal of achieving end-to-end protection is a challenging one with so many diverse endpoints in a transaction lifecycle - point of sale (POS), databases, mainframes, and payment networks - all of which need to be protected from compromise," says Sathvik Krishnamurthy, president and CEO, Voltage Security. "Key management is a critical aspect of all encryption systems and through our partnership with Thales we are able to enhance our End-to-End Encryption solution to protect key management functions and other cryptographic operations in a tamper resistant and security certified environment - an essential requirement in the payments market."

"Today, Thales helps secure more than 70 percent of the world's card payment transactions. Thales is delighted to partner with Voltage to deliver to customers such as Heartland an innovative End-to-End Encryption and key management solution that further helps customers in the payments market and beyond to address their expanding data protection needs," says Franck Greverie, vice president, managing director for the information systems security activities of Thales.