Mitigating information disclosure from point-of-sale devices in South Africa

The advantages of flexibility and convenience offered by point-of-sale (POS) terminals or online banking sites have urged more and more South African consumers to opt for cashless payments. Although financial services corporations have very strict regulations relating to cashless purchases, and go to great lengths to reduce credit card fraud, legitimate POS transaction receipts may offer an easy method for fraudulent online transactions. The flexibility and convenience of cashless payments methods have made them very popular. But in spite of strict regulation, legitimate point-of-sale (POS) transaction receipts may offer an easy method for fraudulent online transactions. Sensitive credit card information is disclosed on certain POS transaction receipts that can be used by criminals to successfully complete fraudulent online shopping transactions. Dr Suné von Solms of Johannesburg University examines the impact of these findings and proposes recommendations to protect against possible information disclosure in POS devices. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd.