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July 11, 2022 • Issue 22:07:01

Editing Paytech DNA – Part 1

vaults that inspired virtual security methods. "Internet
security carried over this notion with firewalls and packet
filters, inspecting traffic as it crossed a common gateway,"
he added.

Public Key Infrastructure
As internet traffic expanded, organizations used Public Key
Infrastructure (PKI) to securely exchange data. Introduced
by British intelligence firm GCHQ in 1970, PKI was further
developed into present-day secure sockets layer (SSL) and
transport layer security (TLS) internet protocols.

Adam Perella, manager at Schellman, described PKI as a
universal language for exchanging data and validating
digital signatures. "We have to speak the same language to
By Dale S. Laszig be able to encrypt and decrypt data, and the asymmetric
cryptographic algorithm is essentially the language that we
igital commerce is ever-changing, but its core use," he said. "Every website you visit with an https address
principles of security, intelligence, agility and uses an asymmetric application that checks the integrity of
transparency have stood the test of time. In this a digital signature."
D two-part series, security leaders will go deep
inside payment technology to explore its fundamental Perella went on to say that asymmetric cryptography is
DNA code—algorithms and cryptography—that formed useful for organizations that don't want to exchange private
early POS systems and continue to shape next-generation keys. You can say, here's my public key. When you transmit
products and services. data to me, use my public key to encrypt it and when I send
data to you, I'll use your public key to encrypt it. You could
Physical roots even post your public key on a billboard, and it wouldn't
impact the security of your private key, which is the thing
In his theory of the adjacent possible, scientist Steven you most want to protect, like the code to your vault, he
Kaufman suggests people bring what they know to added.
technology platforms. Consider Web 1.0's brochure sites
that became more dynamic and interactive as webmasters
mastered the internet and added video, chat and ecommerce,
paving the way to Web 3.0. Payment systems have similarly Contributed articles inside by:
evolved, but most experts agree that protecting them has
always been a challenge. Paulette Rowe ........................................................................................18
Mark Curphey, co-founder and chief product officer Natasa Cvijanovic .................................................................................28
at Open Raven, noted that early security practitioners Adam Atlas ..............................................................................................32
brought a physical mindset to internet security. "Over
thousands of years, humans have associated security Dustin Magaziner .................................................................................35
with physical location," Curphey wrote in a 2009 article
titled "Tomorrow's Security Cogs and Levers," in which
he referenced the castle moats, hardware locks and bank

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