READING, Pa. — As part of a wide-ranging effort this year to upgrade its data security, Redner’s Markets here is employing a form of end-to-end encryption in its credit- and debit-card processing network.
Card data is encrypted from the moment the card is swiped in the PIN pad “all the way to the [acquiring] bank,” said Nick Hidalgo, IT director for Redner’s.
Redner’s, which operates 39 Warehouse Markets and 13 Quick Shoppe convenience stores, uses Connected Payments, a processing system for small retail chains and independents offered by StoreNext Retail Technologies and MTXEPS, in concert with payment processor partners. The cost of Redner’s Connected Payments service, including encryption and centralized storage and retrieval of credit card slips, is $35 per week per store, said Hidalgo.
To test the system, Redner’s recently employed Trustwave to attempt to penetrate its network over a two-week period. “They had access to the register and couldn’t steal any data,” said Hidalgo.
Other data security efforts Redner’s has also been engaged in over the past year:
• The chain has implemented software from Tripwire, Portland, Ore., that checks the configuration of routers and switches every four hours to ensure that no unapproved changes were made, and flags what should or shouldn’t be operating.
• At the POS, Redner’s has installed a white listing application from Savant Protection, Hudson, N.H.
• Redner’s has also rolled out a Cisco wireless infrastructure to its grocery stores and most of its c-stores that includes “rogue access” protection for PCI compliance.
