Technology Association of Georgia Honors the State’s “Best of the Best” for Innovation and Contributions to Georgia’s Technology Community
February 21, 2018 – Atlanta, GA – The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), the state’s leading association dedicated to the promotion and economic advancement of Georgia’s technology industry, today announced Bluefin as one of its Top 40 Innovative Technology Companies in Georgia for the third time.
Bluefin is the leading provider of PCI-validated Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE) solutions for retail, healthcare and higher education, and will be recognized by TAG as a member of this prestigious group at the 2018 Georgia Technology Summit (GTS) on March 20th and 21st at the Cobb Galleria Centre.
TAG’s Top 40 Awards recognize Georgia-based technology companies that demonstrate innovation, financial impact, and efforts at spreading awareness of the state’s technology initiatives throughout the U.S. and globally. This year’s Top 40 Companies were selected from over 100 applications submitted by companies from across Georgia.
“The 2018 Top 40 finalists are an elite group of innovators who represent the very best of Georgia’s Technology community,” said Larry Williams, president & CEO of TAG. “The 2018 Top 40 finalists are shining examples of what makes our State such a hotbed for technology and we applaud them for standing out as leaders in Georgia’s technology community.”
Bluefin was awarded TAG’s Top 40 Award for their Decryption as a Service (DaaS) solution, Decryptx®. Decryptx enables Bluefin’s PCI-validated Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE) solution through payment gateways, processors and software providers.
Bluefin’s P2PE platform secures credit, debit and other card transactions by encrypting all data within a PCI-approved point of entry device, preventing clear-text cardholder data from being available in the device or the merchant’s system where it could be exposed to malware. Data decryption is only done offsite in a Bluefin hardware security module (HSM).
Through Decryptx, the only part of the transaction that Bluefin requires is the encrypted data and other P2PE payload data elements, which contains the swiped, keyed or EMV card data encrypted within the PCI-validated P2PE device. Bluefin decrypts the data and then sends the decrypted payload back to the processor or gateway for authorization.
Currently, Bluefin has over 65 processors, software providers and payment gateways utilizing Decryptx to provide PCI-validated P2PE to their clients. Decryptx is protected by 6 issued U.S. patents and 2 issued Japanese patents, with additional patents pending nationally and internationally.
“This year’s Top 40 was more competitive than ever,” said Dennis Zakas, managing partner of Zakas & Leonard, LLP and chairperson of the Top 40 Selection Committee. “In our quest to showcase the most innovative companies in Georgia, we had to make hard decisions, resulting in the exclusion of numerous deserving companies, many of which had been recognized as a Top 10 company in the past. The companies that we selected this year are truly outstanding.”
“As a proud member of TAG, we are thrilled to be recognized as a technology leader in the state of Georgia for the third time,” said John M. Perry, CEO of Bluefin. “Our patented DaaS solution, Decryptx, provides any processor, gateway or integrated software provider – in Georgia, the U.S. and internationally – the ability to extend the security, cost benefits and reduced PCI scope of Bluefin’s PCI-validated P2PE solution directly to their clients, with no change in the processor relationship and no change in how merchants accept payments today. We look forward to showcasing Decryptx at The Summit.”
The Summit 2018 is expected to draw a crowd of more than 1,500 C-level executives, entrepreneurs, technology professionals and academia to celebrate and recognize Georgia’s technology community. In addition to presentations from some of the top technology influencers in the nation, the newest member of the Technology Hall of Fame of Georgia will be inducted.
For more information about TAG and The Summit and to register for the event, visit www.tagsummit.com. Follow the conversation on Twitter through #TAGSUMMIT.
About The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG)
TAG is the leading technology industry association in the state, serving more than 30,000 members through regional chapters in Metro Atlanta, Athens, Augusta, Columbus, Macon/Middle Georgia, and Savannah. TAG’s mission is to educate, promote, and unite Georgia’s technology community to foster an innovative and connected marketplace that stimulates and enhances a tech-based economy.
Additionally, the TAG Education Collaborative (TAG’s charitable arm) focuses on helping science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education initiatives thrive.
For more information visit the TAG website at www.tagonline.org. To learn about the TAG-Ed Collaborative visit www.tagedonline.org
