VeriFone Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PAY) and McAfee, Inc. (NYSE: MFE MFE - Magnetic Field Effect
MFE - Mobile Fahndungseinheit (German: mobile tracing unit of the German federal police)) today announced availability of McAfee(R) VirusScan A popular antivirus program from McAfee. The VirusScan brand was introduced when McAfee and Network General were merged into Network Associates. See McAfee.(R) Mobile for Verix(R), the first virus protection for payment solutions at the point of sale (POS) in the U.S. The antivirus software provides protection from the threat of malicious software to the growing numbers of Internet-connected payment systems. Merchants are increasingly adopting payment systems utilizing Internet Protocol (IP) to take advantage of faster payment processing, cost savings from eliminating telephone lines, and access to revenue generating value-added applications.

A jointly developed product from VeriFone, the leading provider of payment solutions, and McAfee, the leading provider of intrusion prevention solutions, McAfee VirusScan Mobile for Verix will provide real-time monitoring and attack pattern update services for VeriFone Internet-connected payment solutions at the point of sale. The virus protection software is currently offered on the Omni 3750 Ethernet-enabled payment solution and will be offered on all IP-enabled systems using the Verix and Verix V operating systems in the future; merchants can order a new system with the software pre-installed or easily download the upgrade software to existing systems.

While no threats have yet been detected against standalone POS systems, assaults on other links of the payment processing chain have demonstrated the potential for business disruption and the compromise of cardholder information. The software actively scans executables and host URLs on VeriFone payment solutions to thwart attacks and prevent the misappropriation of transaction data. Periodic virus profile updates provide protection against future potential threats of Internet connected payment systems.

"VeriFone is providing ISOs, acquirers, and merchants the opportunity to take full advantage of IP-connected payment solutions without fear of future impact from malicious software," said Paul Rasori, vice president of marketing for VeriFone. "Although no virus threats have been aimed at VeriFone systems, recent assaults on other links in the payment processing chain demonstrate that criminals are targeting consumer credit card account information at an increasing rate McAfee VirusScan Mobile for Verix enables companies to take reasonable steps to ensure the integrity of consumer information and to protect their own businesses from malicious software infections."

Computer viruses and other malicious software ("malware") are believed to cost businesses in the U.S. tens of billions of dollars annually. Businesses bear the costs of combating and cleaning out the code infecting systems, lost productivity as systems sit idle and actual damages from theft or corrupted systems. Credit and debit charges now account for almost a third of total personal consumer expenditures in the U.S., resulting in a heightened risk of wide scale virus assault on point-of-sale payment solutions that could be devastating for impacted merchants.

VeriFone IP-enabled solutions already offer a wide array of protections designed to secure them from IP network related attacks, including SSL transaction security and VeriShield application authentication. With McAfee VirusScan Mobile for Verix, VeriFone provides an additional layer of protection that goes beyond current industry standards and provides the most comprehensive payment solution security protection suite in the industry.