Tag Archive for: “Apple Pay”

One Smartphone Security Tool You Might Be Missing

You’re already aware that credit card payments are safer than debit cards and checks, right? If someone spends fraudulently on your card, you call the credit card company and POOF! they make it disappear. But if you’re ready to elevate your security game even further, it’s time to tuck away that plastic card and start paying with your smartphone. Why, you ask? Because smartphone payments work a bit like Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak, effectively masking your identity from a horcrux full of hackers. (Side note: You might need to read all seven Harry Potter books to fully appreciate this metaphor.)

Let’s dive into the magical world of mobile payments, starting with Apple Pay for the iPhone users frequenting places like Honeydukes to grab some Pixie Puffs.

Setting Up Apple Pay on Your iPhone (Full Apple Instructions Here):

  1. Open Wallet App: On your iPhone, open the Wallet app. If you don’t have it on your home screen, you can find it by swiping down and using the search feature.
  2. Add a Card: Tap the plus sign to add a new card. You can either scan your credit card with the camera or enter the details manually.
  3. Verify Your Card: Depending on your bank, you might need to verify your card via a text message, email, or a call to your bank.
  4. Secure It: Once added, your card is secured with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode. Unlike a physical credit card, this digital lock must be unlocked to access and use your card.
  5. Ready to Pay: At the register, double-click the home button or side button to bring up your Wallet, authenticate, and then hold your phone near the payment terminal.

When you tap to pay at Honeydukes, Apple Pay doesn’t just send your actual credit card number across the ether. Instead, it conjures up an encrypted virtual account number that cloaks your real one, keeping your private payment details hidden from the prying eyes of dark wizards—aka hackers. Plus, your information is never transmitted or stored on the retailer’s servers, fortifying your defenses against breaches.

Like its Apple counterpart, Google Pay also provides an excellent defense against the dark arts of the digital world. Before approving the payment, your bank or card issuer verifies the dynamic security code—unique to your device—to make sure it’s you who’s casting the spending spell.

Setting Up Google Pay on Android Phones (Full Google Instructions Here):

  1. Download Google Pay: Ensure that Google Pay is installed on your Android device. You can download it from the Google Play Store if it’s not already installed.
  2. Open Google Pay & Add a Card: Launch Google Pay and tap on “Payment” at the bottom, then tap the “+” sign to add a credit or debit card.
  3. Verify Your Card: As with Apple Pay, you may need to verify your card through your bank with an SMS, email, or phone call.
  4. Secure Your App: Set up a screen lock if you haven’t already. Google Pay requires this as an extra layer of security.
  5. Make a Payment: Wake up your phone and hold it near the payment terminal until you see a check mark indicating that your payment was successful.

Setting up digital payments might feel like preparing for a trip to Diagon Alley, but it’s worth it. Paying with your phone is not just fast and secure—it’s also, let’s face it, pretty darn magical. Whether you’re wielding an iPhone or an Android, your smartphone is now the most enchanted item in your pocket, shielding you from the dark forces lurking in the shadows of digital transactions.

Does your organization need to up-level your Smartphone and overall online security? Reach out to explore in-person or virtual keynotes that are fun, informative and necessary in our digital world where things change in the blink of an eye. 

Apple Pay Makes Mobile Payments Sexy; But Secure?

Apple has us ooing and ahhing about the iPhone 6, it’s big brother the 6+ and finally the Apple Watch. But the biggest announcement of all didn’t even have to do with gadgets. The most significant announcement was about a new service that will be built into those devices…

It is Apple Pay, Apple’s own version of a “mobile wallet” that will allow Apple users to pay for items with just a tap or wave of their device. That is if those items happen to be in stores that have agreed to install the technology necessary to allow near-field communication (NFC – no not the football conference, the radio-wave technology) to work. Of course, Apple has done the background work to ensure a lot of big names (MC, Visa, AMEX and retailers such as Target, Macy’s and McDonald’s to name a few) are already on board, which is a significant mark in their favor.  And with the upcoming mandatory implementation of EMV technology, Apple may have just timed this perfectly.

I’ve always been a bit freaked about digital wallets because the Internet giants offering them (Google, Amazon) are the same companies that collect reams of personal data, from search behaviors to my product preferences, and I don’t want any one company having all of that.

Many companies have tried to get mobile payments off the ground in the past without much success. So why might Apple be different (security implications in red)?

  1. Apple is a master at integrating hardware and software. This doesn’t just mean that their payment system will be more user friendly than previous offerings (which it will), it also means that Apple has more control over the security and the privacy of each transaction. For example…
  2. No cardholder data will be stored on the iPhone itself, OR on Apple’s servers. This is a significant divergence from previous offerings (Google Wallet) and is an extremely smart play on Apple’s part. Why? Because…
  3. Apple has basically chosen to stay out of the information collection business to focus on  what they do best, which is produce innovative digital devices and the corresponding behind-the-scenes software that make their devices so practical and useful. Consequently, they will continue to be a more trusted brand than their direct competitors. Unlike Microsoft, Facebook, and Google, Apple doesn’t appear to want to become a data-mining company. Apple executives have stated that they have no desire to collect or share user data. This could change when Apple realizes the profit they are passing up for the sake of privacy, but  in the meantime…
  4. The same companies that have always collected your purchasing data (Visa, MC, Amex and the retailers you buy from) will be responsible for the same sensitive cardholder information they’ve always had access to, and Apple will simply be passing the transaction through, using a unique series of numbers that will reveal nothing of value should the phone be hacked.
  5. Finally, like it or not, Apple will make mobile payments sexy (did I just say that – I think maybe I’ve drunk too much of the Apple CoolAid). That sounds shallow, but their similar effort (iTunes + iPods, iPhone + App Store) revolutionized the music and smartphone industries. Apple has had a knack for getting consumers to warm up to ideas that have been tried before but never really took off (think iTunes, music players, smart phones, and tablets)  Also, they have done what others who have tried mobile wallet concepts in the past have not: they’ve made it sexy.
  6. Instead of a credit card that reveals all of its secrets on a magnetic stripe (no security there), Apple Pay will require a thumbprint scan (which never leaves the device) in order to make a charge. In other words, it utilizes CHIP & PIN technology, which every retailer is required to implement before 2015 ends anyway. Apple’s timing is impeccable – let’s just hope the technology is up to the task.

I’m not in any way saying that Apple doesn’t face huge challenges in terms of security, privacy and adoption of Apple Pay. Of course they do. I’m simply saying that they have the best shot yet at bringing together the hardware, software, industry connections and marketing chops to finally make mobile secure payments, well… pay.

John Sileo is an an award-winning author and keynote speaker who specializes in making security entertaining, so that it works. John is CEO of The Sileo Group, whose clients include the Pentagon, Visa, Homeland Security & Pfizer. John’s body of work includes frequent media appearances on shows like 60 Minutes, Rachael Ray, Anderson Cooper & Fox Business. Contact him directly on 800.258.8076.