Magtek Names Noted Security Expert And Critically Acclaimed Author As Chief Security Officer

PRLog (Press Release) - Sep. 8, 2009 - Seal Beach, Calif.—MagTek Inc., a global leader in secure financial transaction technology, today announced the hire of veteran security expert Tom Patterson as chief security officer (CSO). Tom will work with existing and future clients in the financial industry to protect against multi-billion dollar credit card fraud.

Tom brings over 30 years of security and technology industry experience to the CSO role, providing a wealth of knowledge and experience on information security, data privacy and digital technologies. Tom started his career in the intelligence community, and later designed and built industry-leading security products. He served as IBM’s chief strategist for eCommerce and was the lead security partner at Deloitte for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Tom also brings Federal experience in the security space, advising the FBI and the National Counter-Intelligence Executive (NCIX) on countering organized crime and foreign intelligence service efforts in cybercrime.

“Tom’s background and experience are a great fit for MagTek, enabling us to combine his leadership in security with our leadership in secure transaction technology,” said Mimi Hart, CEO of MagTek Inc.  “In today’s economy, consumers, retailers and financial institutions are more vulnerable to fraud attacks than ever before. Tom will be instrumental in working with the government and our customers to help defend financial systems from ongoing cyber threats.”  

MagTek’s MagneSafe™ technology is the company’s most recent security innovation, allowing any bank, processor or merchant to detect and reject any fraudulent credit or debit card.  This breakthrough technology not only encrypts card data at the source, but adds true card authentication by reading each card’s unique magnetic “fingerprint” to verify that it not an illegal copy. Thanks to this layered protection, MagneSafe™ is now being successfully rolled out to financial institutions worldwide.

“MagTek is a proven leader in financial security technology, delivering products that have protected tens of billions of financial transactions over the last three decades,” said Tom Patterson, MagTek’s chief security officer. “By working from within the financial community as we do, collectively we can now wipe out credit and debit card fraud from skimmed or stolen credit card information.”

Tom is a leading public speaker and frequently appears as an expert discussing security and technology topics in the nation’s top media outlets including CNN, CNBC, CBS and NBC News.  He is the author of Mapping Security (Addison-Wesley) and is the founder of the National Security Grid, a non-profit group that provides the ‘critical million’ small and mid-sized U.S. companies with critical links to Federal security, intelligence and counter-intelligence capabilities.  



For more information, please contact:

Krista Strum
202-223-9260
Krista@allisonpr.com

About MagTek:
Magtek, a trusted leader in secure transaction technology for over three decades, and a PCI compliant product and service provider, has since 1972 been a leading manufacturer of electronic devices and systems for the reliable issuance, reading, transmission and security of cards, checks, PINs and other identification documents. Leading with innovation and engineering excellence, MagTek is known worldwide for quality and dependability amongst financial institutions, retailers, hotels, law enforcement agencies and other organizations for providing secure and efficient electronic payment and identification transactions.

Based in Seal Beach, Calif., MagTek has sales offices throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, with independent distributors in over 40 countries. For more information, please visit www.magtek.com.

Photo:
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