Venture Beat just published my review of the situation with payment card security, which basically answers the question: are we going to see more card data breaches? 

Supervalu and Albertsons are the latest retail chains to get hit by credit card breaches, but they won’t be the last. Here's why.

Just another grim story in the row of card data breaches... We will see more and more breaches like this until the industry realizes that the current payment card technologies - EMV is no exception - are insecure by design, it is nearly impossible to patch them, and they should be replaced by something else!

This is visual representation of my Hacking Point of Sale talk at Tripwire booth at Black Hat USA 2014. Thanks Tripwire for this opportunity to present and sign the book!

I'll be doing two one-hour book signings at Black Hat USA 2014 and DEF CON 22 conferences in Las Vegas:

Black Hat USA 2014: 
August 6, 2014, 5:30 pm
Mandalay Bay Conference Center, Tripwire booth 141
(I'll be doing a short presentation before the book signing)

DEF CON 22:
August 8, 2014, 11:00 am
Rio Hotel & Casino, No Starch Press community table in Vendor Area

The US payment industry is disconnected from the the rest of the world so any insight on different implementation abroad is always interesting and helpful. My book about payment security is going to be translated to Korean, so I guess they will be surprised to see some differences between the US and South Korean models such as lack of acquirers (payment processors have direct links to card issuers which eliminates the need to pass transactions through acquirers and payment brand networks, which means less complexity and lower fees for merchants). However, I guess security issues on store/POS level remain the same regardless the back end implementation.

Interesting list of 10 examples of BLE Beacons implementations, including payments (PayPal "hands-free").

I don't think the palm scanner as an authentication method will make it into a mainstream of retail payments, at least not in the US. It is bulky, and most important thing - requires significant physical interaction with the device, which customers try to avoid. I believe the future belongs to personal, contactless payment devices and gadgets, such as smartphones and smart cards equipped with biometric sensors, which would allow the buyers to interact with the merchant's payment system without physical contact.    

Is Bitcoin going to be the future technology of online payments? And maybe not just online?

    Bitcoin hit a high of $1,073 on Tokyo- based exchange Mt. Gox, the best-known operator of a bitcoin digital marketplace, compared with just below $900 the previous day.
    Bitcoin is not backed by physical assets and is not run by any person or group. Its value depends on people's confidence in the currency. It has been gaining acceptance by the general public and investment community but has yet to become an accepted form of payment on the websites of major retailers such as Amazon.com.

Interesting data about mobile checkout apps:
The cost of merchant's mobile app:
    $7,000 on average, with more comprehensive applications costing $150,000 and more.
    By 2017, retailers believe that over 50% of sales transactions will come from a mobile device self-checkout.