Swissbit and Telekom Security keep cash registers clean

They are small, inconspicuous but let the tax authorities sleep better: plug-in modules with USB, SD or microSD interfaces. What at first glance looks like an ordinary data card is actually full of security competence. Because when it comes to Swissbit and Telekom Security, tax fraud is one variant poorer.

With these modules, cash register systems can be upgraded without any complex intervention in the hardware. They simply must be plugged in. From January 2020 in Germany, this will even be true literally.

From then on, the legal regulations of the tax authorities will apply. These apply to all new electronic and existing PC-based POS systems. They need a certified technical safety device (TSE). "We know how to offer legally compliant systems to meet the complex challenges facing manufacturers," says Hubertus Grobbel, head of Business Unit Security Products at Swissbit AG in Munich. "All POS systems already in use in the field in retail, trade and gastronomy must be retrofitted by the end of 2022 at the latest. PC systems even as early as January 2020. This is simply possible with the Swissbit TSEs".

TCOS meets the toughest requirements

On board the Swissbit TSE modules is one of the most secure operating systems on the wIT market: the Telesec Chipcard Operating System - TCOS for short from Telekom Security. More than 100 million electronic passports, ID cards, digital tachographs and electronic health cards are equipped with TCOS in Europe. "With immediate effect, we are also expanding our expertise to the retail market in retail, trade and gastronomy," says Dirk Backofen, head of Telekom Security. "Together with Swissbit, we are giving cash registers a forgery-proof, digital identity. The popular trick is then no longer to tax less goods than have actually been sold. The cash register records can no longer be manipulated afterwards."

This is also the view of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). Swissbit TSE products are already being certified there. As a rule, small computers are located under the hood of cash registers. With the new tax regulations, the authorities are reacting to the underground trade with manipulated cash register software. It was not until 2018 that NRW Finance Minister Lutz Lienenkämper estimated the damage caused by manipulated devices in Germany at up to ten billion euros.

Swissbit AG is the largest independent manufacturer of storage and security solutions for demanding industrial and IoT applications in Europe. Swissbit combines its unique competences in embedded memory and flash storage products with cutting-edge security technology and its expertise in advanced packaging to store, protect and process data reliably in industrial, NetCom, automotive, medical and finance sectors.

The company manufactures industrial strength flash storage and security products “Made in Germany” with long-term availability, high reliability and durability as well as custom optimization. Swissbit’s flash range includes SSDs with PCIe and SATA interface such as mSATA, Slim SATA, CFast™, M.2 and 2.5” as well as CompactFlash, USB flash drives, SD, micro SD memory cards and managed NAND BGAs. Security products are available in various application specific editions as USB flash drives, SD, and micro SD memory cards. Swissbit was founded in 2001 through a management buy-out of Siemens AG, and has offices in Switzerland, Germany, USA, Japan and Taiwan.