VSi announces that its proprietary FreshStart™ firmware protects against keyloggers and other threats to user data privacy
[Sunnyvale, CA - July 17, 2014] - The hospitality industry has been rocked by the recent advisory issued by the Department of Homeland Security’s National Cybersecurity and Communications Integrations Center (NCCIC) warning that criminals have been compromising hotel business center and kiosk PCs with keystroke-logging malware in a bid to steal personal and financial data from guests. However, with Vertical Systems, Inc. (VSi) proprietary FreshStart™ firmware, a hotelier can be sure that their systems are protected against the threat of keyloggers and other malware. All VSi systems use sophisticated means to protect user data and nullify the threat of a privacy breach.
VSi uses its proprietary FreshStart™ firmware to protect guest’s personal identifiable data against the keylogger retrieval method, providing unprecedented security and privacy at all its business centers and kiosk products in thousands of locations across the industry. This one-of-a-kind solution deletes all user files, personal data, usage history, network settings, registries, drivers, applications, and operating system entirely, upon log out, thereby ensuring user absolute information security and privacy.
Additionally, any non-standard programs (virus, worms, sniffers) that might jeopardize future system or user security and cause ongoing support and maintenance issues are also deleted. In fact, the entire hard disk partition is completely overwritten upon re-boot after each guest session, so that the next user is completely protected from any actions taken by previous users .
According to the NCCIC, attackers with physical access to a system and the ability to reboot the computer can use CDs or USB drives to boot the machine straight into a stand-alone operating system like Linux that has the ability to add, delete or modify files on the underlying (Windows) hard drive. However, all VSi systems protect against this threat using BIOS level settings that prevent users from booting another operating system or application from a USB or CD drive.
Unlike other security solutions, VSi’s FreshStart™ allows users to run ANY software (even executable files and programs) during their user session to provide guests complete access to any program they may need to use during their stay. All user-loaded executable files are removed upon forced re-boot at the end of the session - through rebuilding the entire hard disk.
With Vertical Systems, Inc.‘s (VSi) proprietary FreshStart™ solution, hotels and hotel guests can be sure that their privacy is assured and that they are protected against the threat of keyloggers and other malware. For more information on how FreshStart™ protects user data and privacy on public computers, please contact VSi at info@ver-sys.com or 866-874-9222.