Transparently securing transactional data

A method for securing card data on a magnetic stripe card using a read head, comprising:

• detecting a plurality of transitions on a stripe of a card proximate to the read head;
• generating within the read head a signal representing the transitions;
• encrypting a portion of the signal within the read head;
• and
• formatting the encrypted signal in a same format as the signal generated by the read head;
• wherein the portion of the signal encrypted comprises a subset of a personal account number on a track of the magnetic stripe card and the formatted encrypted signal comprises encrypted and unencrypted personal account number data of the magnetic stripe card.

A card stripe read apparatus, comprising:

• a housing;
• a detector with a portion thereof encapsulated within the housing, the detector configured to detect magnetic card data and generate a first signal representing the card data;
• and
• an encryption engine encapsulated within the housing and in communicative contact with the detector, the encryption engine configured to encrypt a portion of the card data and to generate a second signal including the encrypted card data, wherein the first and second signal have same format;
• wherein the second signal contains a serial number along with the card data.

A card stripe read apparatus, comprising:

• a housing;
• a detector with a portion thereof encapsulated within the housing, the detector configured to detect magnetic card data and generate a first signal representing the card data;
• an encryption engine encapsulated within the housing and in communicative contact with the detector, the encryption engine configured to encrypt a portion of the card data and to generate a second signal including the encrypted card data, wherein the first and second signal have same format;
• and
• a serial number stored within the housing.

A method for encrypting data for transmission on an unsecured public network, comprising the steps of:

• a) acquiring magnetic stripe card track data using a magnetic stripe card reader head;
• b) selecting a portion of the acquired card track data;
• c) encrypting the selected portion within the magnetic stripe card reader head;
• d) assembling an encrypted data package by replacing the selected portion of the acquired card track data with the encrypted data;
• and
• e) outputting the encrypted data package into an unsecured POS device for the purpose of completing a financial transaction;
• whereby the system maintains message format compatibility with the original magnetic stripe card data infrastructure system.

A card stripe read apparatus, comprising:

• a housing;
• a detector with a portion thereof encapsulated within the housing, the detector configured to detect magnetic card data and generate a first signal representing the card data;
• and
• an encryption engine encapsulated within the housing and in communicative contact with the detector, the encryption engine configured to encrypt a portion of the card data and to generate a second signal including the encrypted card data, wherein the first and second signal have same format, wherein the second signal contains a serial number along with the card data.