McAfee Virus Scan for Credit Card Terminals

Something new I learned today was that newer Verifone Omni 3750 credit card terminals can come with a mobile version of McAfee virus scan installed on them. While I have never heard of a credit card terminal virus, nor have I personally seen a McAfee installed Omni, I think this is a really interesting feature that is showing someone is looking toward the future.

The way this particular virus scanning system works, is similar to the computer based McAfee. A local scanning utility is installed on the terminal, which automatically watched for viruses and other malicious scripts. This software on the terminal is automatically updated from a central McAfee server. Because of the nature of the software, it would only be necessary for Omni’s processing over a broadband connection. In this case, the terminal could be vulnerable to anything that exists on the internet. Again, I have never hear of a credit card terminal virus, but as advanced as the Omni 3750 is, I think that it could be possible for someone to target these terminals with a virus.

I will post any updates on Credit Card Terminal virus scanning if I come across them.

Link to Verifone’s McAfee information page