TALLAHASSE, Fla. -- In a legislative move that will call attention to emerging in-pump security technology, Florida lawmakers passed a bill requiring gas stations to install devices designed to thwart credit-card skimming.
Last week, the state House passed Senate bill (SB 912), which then went to Gov. Rick Scott’s office for signing, according to the Associated Press. Retailers would also have to report any attempts to tamper with pumps.
“Skimming is creating significant concerns for petroleum dealers, marketers and c-store operators around the country,” said Shekar Swamy, president and senior security strategist for Omega, Ellisville, Mo. “Simple solutions to prevent skimming have not proven effective.”
The bill describes the required devices and systems in general terms:
1. Placing pressure-sensitive tape over the panel that leads to the scanning device within the point-of-sale (POS) so as to restrict the unauthorized opening of the panel.
2. A device or system that will render the retail petroleum fuel-measuring device or the scanning device in the measuring device inoperable if there is an unauthorized opening of the panel.
3. A device or system that encrypts the customer payment-card information in the scanning device.
The bill also allows any security measure that the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services reviews and deems sufficient.
Technology providers are in the process of developing solutions that will most likely meet Florida's requirements, Swamy told CSP Daily News, predicting product announcements later this year and in early 2017.
Such solutions will likely be installed inside the “little door where the key-pad electronics are,” Swamy said. If the door is opened or tampered with, the device will shut off the pump. Unfortunately, Swamy said, criminals using wireless key fobs to open the door may circumvent some of the proposed shut-off mechanisms.
For the most part, the solutions will more than likely focus on sensors and the ability to shut down the in-pump POS and will not necessarily involve increased surveillance or more cameras.
State Sen. Anitere Flores (R) and House Majority Leader Dana Young(R) sponsored the legislation, with support from state agriculture commissioner Adam Putnam, according to the Miami Herald. Putnam’s office inspects the estimated 8,000 gas stations in the state and in 2015 found more than 190 skimmers, the newspaper reported.
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