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            The very point of salery point of sale              collaborations  were  well  underway  before  COVID-19
            The ve
                                                                inspired us to use our platform to help neighbors, merchants
                                                                and each other survive a global business shutdown.  In
                                                                our payments ecosystem, when a member gets hurt, we
                                                                are all impacted. We have stood together against supply
                                                                chain challenges and natural and economic disasters. Why
                                                                stop now, when one of our leading manufacturers is under
                                                                attack? Few facts are available regarding accusations
                                                                against PAX Technology, only that some machines may
                                                                have been compromised.
        Give PAX a chance                                       Avoid mob mentality



                                                                vulnerability in a credit card terminal. At the 2020 Black
        By Dale S. Laszig                                       This is not the first time someone has publicized a
        DSL Direct LLC                                          Hat EU conference, Verifone and Ingenico were cited for
                                                                vulnerabilities in select legacy models, which both firms
                     hen payment data is compromised, it is     promptly rebutted. If we allow merchants to succumb to a
                     rarely a personal heist. Bad guys crack    mob mentality and aggressively swap out PAX equipment
                     a safe filled with millions of credentials,   for other brands, it would be a wasted effort for them
        W which they market, exploit and ravage.                and for us. It would be far more prudent to let PAX, a
        Occasionally, fraudsters  will trip  an  alarm, setting off   longstanding and proven technology partner, provide
        advanced fraud detection systems that warn users of their   guidance and oversight to help our merchants protect
        bad intent. Other times, they go undetected for months,   their existing infrastructure.
        robbing data and credentials with impunity until a retailer
        or financial institution makes an announcement from a   We owe it  to ourselves and to our customers  to get
        script we can recite from memory.                       more information before we act, or we could expose our
                                                                customers to another attack against a different hardware
        Digital commerce is a spawning ground for competing     platform. I learned this the hard way when my mobile
        technologies, good and bad. Good tech strives to keep   phone was hacked, and I ran to another mobile carrier,
        us connected, protected, engaged and transacting. Bad   only to be promptly hacked again before my new service
        tech lurks behind familiar brand symbols, spraying and   order was processed.
        preying unceasingly, trying to rob us of our identities and   Stand strong
        money. Good and bad tech are playing an impersonal,
        high stakes game.                                       My recent experience as a victim in a large class of
                                                                impacted consumers was not all terrible. It showed me
        Suspend judgment                                        there are systems in place to help those affected navigate
        Why do forensic investigations take months to complete?   remediation, patch vulnerabilities and stay safe. It showed
        Maybe  it’s  because  bad  actors  are  stealthy  and  have   me what matters is not whether an individual or company
        learned how to cover their tracks. It takes time to sift   gets attacked; bad things happen to good people and are
        through the minutiae of a compromised database, and     no cause for shame. What matters is how the individual or
        no  two attacks  are  completely  alike;  each  is  tailored  to   company responds to the crisis. And from what I can see,
        specific characteristics of a network, database and security   PAX is doing everything right.
        infrastructure.
                                                                Companies like PAX, with global reach and strong
        Like all technology, there can be more to a POS system   capitalization, will always be compelling targets for
        than meets the eye. The worst thing we can do as a      malicious parties. However, few facts are available about
        payments community is generalize or rush to judgement.   two recent high-profile incidents at PAX Technology.
        The best thing we can do is stand together against all   The  first  attack,  reported  by  The  Green  Sheet  on  Sept.
        types of attacks. Why give bad actors a chance to divide   10, 2021, involved a third-party developer citing a code
        and conquer?                                            vulnerability in the company’s S920 and D210 devices,
                                                                which PAX had previously addressed and patched. The
        Embrace collaboration                                   second attack, which The Green Sheet reported on Oct. 28,
                                                                2021, involved an FBI raid of the company’s Jacksonville,
        The payments journey has become more collaborative in   Fla., headquarters, ostensibly due to security concerns.
        recent years; individual brands have learned that no one
        company can be all things to all people. We've knocked   Remain objective
        down proprietary technology silos in favor of open-source
        systems and APIs. We've shared ideas, technologies and   In an Oct. 29,  2021 blog post, "PAX  Technology
        inspiration to advance payment card security, cross-    announcement and resumption of trading," PAX
        border commerce and global app marketplaces. These      maintained that subsequent to the FBI raid, the company
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