ValidSoft, a global supplier of telecommunications-based fraud prevention, authentication and transaction verification solutions, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Elephant Talk Communications, Corp. (NYSE MKT: ETAK), has achieved its third European Privacy Seal from EuroPriSe, this time for its SIM-swap fraud prevention solution, VALid-SSD.
ValidSoft is the only security software company in the world to have achieved three EuroPriSe Privacy Seals. They are awarded after a rigorous legal as well as technical assessment and evaluation process to show that a product is compliant with EU data protection standards and embraces the 'privacy by design' approach. The EuroPriSe Privacy Seal programme was set up with the support of the European Commission. It is the only accreditation programme to promote such high standards of data protection and privacy compliance. It is also the only programme capable of ensuring financial services institutions and consumers that the strongest and most sophisticated security solutions do not need to compromise privacy. This already prestigious programme will be afforded an even more critical role next year with the likely adoption of Privacy Seals and other formal certification methods in the upcoming Data Protection Regulation, as championed by EU Commissioner Mrs Viviane Reding.
This particular seal is for VALid-SSD® (version 3.5). It is the world's first detection and prevention application for use by the banking industry to tackle the growing problem of SIM card fraud. This is a type of 'Pseudo-Device-Theft' which enables fraudsters to maliciously redirect mobile telephone calls and SMSs in order to defeat Out-Of-Band authentication systems and other anti-fraud measures involving customer contact via the mobile phone. This increasingly global threat has caused significant losses for the banks affected.
Mr Pat Carroll, CEO of ValidSoft comments, 'Achieving a third seal from EuroPriSe is something we're very proud of. Not only does it cement our position as a global leader in data privacy and protection, but it puts us and our clients ahead of the game as the mobile/e-commerce market expands. Payment security is about balancing risk with usability, and at the same time building and maintaining trust and confidence - and that means taking a 'privacy by design' approach. Not only do our security systems clearly meet the highest security standards, but they have privacy built in by design, further enhancing our security offering by improving customer usability and trust.'
Kirsten Bock, Head of EuroPriSe, comments, 'Data privacy and protection are crucial to the success of the pan-European e-commerce industry. There is huge potential for growth, but that will depend on consumer trust in privacy respecting solutions. ValidSoft's solution gives consumers that trust, so we're very pleased to be awarding the company its third EuroPriSe seal. It's no small feat to achieve one, so the fact that ValidSoft has been awarded three shows a very serious commitment to data protection and privacy by design.'