EMVCo recognition of CEACI reinforces Thales' leading position in banking security
Thales, a leader in information and communications systems security, today announced that France's leading IT security evaluation laboratory, CEACI, has received recognition by EMVCo, the organisation operated by JCB International, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa, Inc., to act as an EMVCo full service evaluation laboratory, responsible for verifying that integrated Circuits (ICs) or Integrated Circuit Cards (ICCs) perform according to EMVCo security guidelines. The announcement reinforces Thales' leading involvement in the evaluation of banking security at an international level.
Based in Toulouse , CEACI - the Evaluation & Analysis Centre for Information Technology Components - operates under a private partnership between Thales and CNES, the French space agency. With over 10 years' experience in the analysis of embedded system vulnerabilities and physical attack techniques, the CEACI was recognised by EMVCo as an independent security evaluation laboratory following a stringent qualification process which reviewed technical abilities and quality and security standards.
The CEACI has been approved by France 's national regulation authority for information system security as an IT security evaluation facility (ITSEF) across the banking, government, transport and defence sectors. Following the agreement, customers will be able to ensure that IC and ICC products perform according to the EMVCo security guidelines. The EMVCo security evaluation scheme is recognised internationally and leads to a single certificate that covers methodology, vulnerability analysis and attack tests.
Alain Wislez, General Manager of the CEACI of Thales commented: “Recognition by EMVCo really strengthens our credentials in the banking sector. As the payments industry constantly evolves with new offerings such as EMV contactless and mobile, the issue of security is critical to the success of these new developments as well as ensuring customer confidence and uptake. The CEACI is one of the leaders in the field of IT security evaluation in France and worldwide. We are able to offer comprehensive expertise in security product evaluation at an international level through our state-of-the-art equipment and unrivalled experience. As such, we're looking forward to offering EMVCo security evaluations to our customers who target the banking market.”