# VISA-TDES Updates


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Risk Management | Data Security April 22, 2009
Update on Visa’s Compliance Policy to Facilitate Triple Related Information
Data Encryption Standard Usage
Visa Business News
Archive
To ensure the highest possible PIN security standards in the electronic payments
Key Dates
industry, in 2005, Visa announced a global mandate for Triple Data Encryption
Standard (TDES) usage and established July 1, 2010, as the date for global
Visa Online
compliance. This mandate requires that all cardholder PINs be TDES protected from
the point of transaction to the issuer.
Visa transitioned to TDES because global industry standards bodies (e.g., International
Organization for Standardization) no longer recognized the older single-DES (SDES)
algorithm for the protection of PINs. Visa’s TDES usage mandate is part of a PIN
Security and Key Management compliance program that includes other PIN Entry
Device (PED) testing mandates focusing on the physical and logical security and TDES
capabilities of all devices that accept and process PINs. These mandates were enacted
to ensure that Visa, Plus and Interlink payments continue to be the industry’s most
trusted and secure way to conduct commerce. The substantial progress of TDES
implementations made by clients globally is helping to ensure that all payment system
participants are protected from increasingly sophisticated threats.
In the U.S., Visa required that all VisaNet and Visa Debit Processing Service endpoints
and ATMs use TDES to protect PINs by December 31, 2007. With these major
milestones reached, the final U.S. acceptance channel that must achieve TDES
compliance is at the point of sale (POS).
Updated Enforcement Policy for POS TDES Usage
Visa will maintain the July 1, 2010, global TDES usage mandate. The enforcement
policy for TDES usage will apply separately to each of the following stakeholder
categories:
POS TDES Usage—Excluding U.S. Automated Fuel Dispensers (AFDs) at
Petroleum Merchants
• October 1, 2009—Acquirers must submit to Visa a summary TDES
compliance status report and plan to achieve full compliance for sponsored
attended POS activity.
• August 1, 2012—Acquirers may be assessed fines for sponsoring any non-
TDES compliant merchants or agents.
U.S. Petroleum Merchants—TDES Usage
• October 1, 2009—Acquirers must submit to Visa a summary TDES
compliance status report and plan to achieve full compliance for sponsored

AFD activity.
• July 1, 2010—Acquirers may be assessed fines for merchants that are not
using at least SDES Derived Unique Key per Transaction (DUKPT) or TDES.
• Inside petroleum sales (non-AFD) will be managed under the POS category
policy.
U.S. Petroleum Merchants—Encrypting PIN Pad (EPP) Usage
• January 1, 2009—Acquirers may be assessed fines for newly deployed AFDs
without TDES-capable Payment Card Industry (PCI)-approved EPPs.
• October 1, 2009—Acquirers must submit a summary AFD EPP attestation for
newly deployed AFDs at sponsored merchants.
This enforcement policy is based on the current risk environment that exists for
cardholder PINs accepted at both attended and unattended POS PEDs. Visa will inform
clients of any future changes to this policy based on further analysis of exploited
vulnerabilities, emerging risks and threats to the payment system.
To protect all payment system participants and ensure continued TDES adoption,
clients must develop implementation plans for full TDES compliance. By October 1,
2009, clients must provide to Visa (1) summary TDES compliance status reports and
(2) plans to achieve full compliance for all sponsored POS activity. Visa will provide
additional guidance to clients on TDES compliance reporting requirements.
In the event of a PIN compromise, acquirers will continue to be subject to Account Data
Compromise Recovery, Data Compromise Recovery Solution, or similar program
liability (in addition to potential fines) if the entity is found to be non-compliant with the
Payment Card Industry PIN Security Requirements including any use of SDES past
July 1, 2010.
To assist clients and merchants with questions regarding AFDs and Visa PED testing
requirements, please refer to Visa’s General PED FAQ, located at www.visa.com/pin.
Secure TDES Migration Recommendations for POS
Clients are encouraged to transition to TDES usage as quickly as possible to provide
the highest level of protection for cardholder PINs. To securely migrate to TDES, follow
these recommendations:
• Develop detailed plans to migrate to TDES with at least double-length keys.
• In the migration plan, include the conversion of all single-DES DUKPT
implementations to TDES DUKPT. When converting from single-DES DUKPT
to TDES DUKPT, ensure that new Base Derivation Key components are
securely generated.
• Contact POS PED vendors, processors and Encryption and Support
Organizations (ESOs) to establish achievable conversion plan milestones for
all organizations.
• Evaluate all encryption zones where PIN translations occur to ensure that each
zone in which the PIN travels is TDES encrypted from the point of entry all the
way to the issuer. This includes any acquirer zone between a PED and a Host

Security Module (HSM) where PIN translations occur.
• Ensure that all POS PEDs use encryption keys unique to that device to
process PINs.
• Inspect current equipment inventories (e.g., PEDs, key loading/injection
devices and HSMs) to determine 1) which equipment currently supports TDES
(with at least double-length keys) and 2) which equipment needs to be
upgraded or replaced.
• Ensure that POS PED inventories and new equipment purchases are in
compliance with PCI PED testing requirements. PCI-approved PEDs are listed
on www.pcisecuritystandards.org/pin. Visa’s General PED FAQ is located at
www.visa.com/pin.
• Contact your processors and POS ESOs to ensure that these entities support
TDES-compliant key management controls.
• Target known compromised POS PEDs for replacement first. Known
compromised POS PEDs were published in a November 2007 Data Security
Alert posted on www.visa.com/cisp.
• All attended POS PEDs that have never been successfully lab evaluated and
pre-PCI or PCI-approved must be removed from production globally by July 1,
2010. All payment system participants must determine whether any attended
vendor-attested POS PEDs are in use; if so, these PEDs must be retired.
PEDs in use past July 1, 2010, must be on the current approved list located at
www.pcisecuritystandards.org/pin or on the expired approval list located at
www.visa.com/pin.
• Ensure full compliance with the PCI PIN Security Requirements.
Additional information may be found in the following Visa publications and websites.
In addition, Visa is offering ongoing PIN Security and Key Management Trainings
throughout 2009. For more information on these workshops, e-mail
pinusa@visa.com.
Web Resources:
• Visit www.visa.com/pin to locate these resources:
o Visa’s General PED FAQ
o Visa PIN Security Tools and Best Practices for Merchants brochure
(or contact the Visa Fulfillment Center at (800) 235-3580. Reference
document number VRM 08.05.07)
• Visit www.pcisecuritystandards.org/pin to locate these resources:
o Listing of PCI-approved PEDs and other PCI PED testing program
information
o Payment Card Industry POS and EPP PIN Entry Device Security
Requirements manuals
• Visit www.visa.com/pinsecurity to locate these resources:
o Payment Card Industry PIN Security Requirements manual (or visit

the "PIN Security" section of Visa Online
Publications:
• "2009 Visa PIN Security and Key Management Training Series," Visa
Business Review, January 2009, Issue No. 090113.
• "Interlink Merchants—Plan Now to Meet Visa’s TDES Point of Sale
Requirements," Visa Business Review, August 2008, Issue No. 080826.
• "Reminder—PIN Entry Device Testing Program Changes Effective December
31, 2007," Visa Business Review, October 2007, Issue No. 071023.
• "Visa Announces New Category for Unattended PIN Entry Devices," Visa
Business Review, June 2007, Issue No. 070619.
• "PIN Pad Found Vulnerable to Skimming Attacks," Visa Business Review,
March 2007, Issue No. 070327.
• "Visa PIN Security Initiatives and Controls for Merchants," Visa Business
Review, November 2006, Issue No. 061121.
• "Automated Fuel Dispensers Susceptible to Skimming," Visa Business
Review, August 2006, Issue No. 060801.
• "PIN Security Best Practices for Merchants," Visa Business Review, June
2006, Issue No. 060620.
• "Members Are Reminded that POS PIN Pads Susceptible to Skimming
Attacks Must Be Replaced," Visa Business Review, February 2006, Issue No.
060214.
• "Visa Announces Triple Data Encryption Standard Implementation
Requirements," Visa Business Review, August 16, 2005, Issue No. 050816.
• "Visa Announces Initial Triple DES Implementation Requirements," Visa
Business Review, August 2002, Issue No. 020813.
Contact your Visa Account Manager, e-mail esupport@visa.com or call (888) 847-2488 to
speak with a Visa subject matter expert.
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