Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Keep The Look & Feel Of Your Site

e-Path is pleased to announce the availability of a customised payment gateway service, available for all existing and future payment gateway customers effective immediately.

Residing securely within e-Path's PCI compliant and THAWTE SSL protected secure server environment, your exclusive gateway system can now resemble the look and feel of your own website.

Unlike other payment gateway systems where you are forced to send your customers to one generic location/URL where everything is shared by everyone, with e-Path you have the tremendous security advantage of operating with your own exclusive, unique and secure gateway service/location. Your own secure URL to your own secure gateway which has been set up to handle only your own customers ... and nobody else!

This one fundamental, which is another factor that further separates e-Path from all other payment gateways, means we can now allow you to design and develop your own payment gateway pages for your own customers. For many developers and website owners it is important to maintain branding and keep the look and feel of the source website through the payment process. This is now achievable.

As you would expect there are some limitations due to security, for example, all content (graphics, images etc.) needs to reside within your own gateway on our secure server.

If you would like to learn more about the new customisable payment gateway option, please contact e-Path.

... just a thought
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Peter Thwaites
E-PATH CREDIT CARD PAYMENT GATEWAY

Friday, July 22, 2011

"Hey Dad, thanks but no thanks"

Now for something completely off topic and out of left field.

What could possibly be better than having the opportunity to move into the family's rapidly growing business? We are talking about a business that is at the very forefront of a refreshing (and much needed) new era in e-commerce security and affordability.

Well, for my son Brenton it's a "hey dad, thanks but no thanks".

Fresh from graduating at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brenton has landed a key role playing a character by the name of Luke in the new Fox8 teen drama SLiDE. If you want to see one of the best promos for any Australian drama series check this: SLiDE Advert

And here is a little behind the scenes bit of him talking about his role in SLiDE: Brenton Thwaites as Luke in SLiDE

And he gets "busted" on "Rove in LA"

But that's not exactly all Brenton is up to. From time to time he'll be pestering the happy little Summer Bay community on Sydney's north shore as a badie "River Boy" named Stu in the popular Channel 7 series Home and Away.


Compilation: Brenton Thwaites as Stu in Home and Away

With that sort of competition the e-Path enterprise hasn't got a chance in a month of Sundays to attract him so what's a father to do? Well, the truth of the matter is I am bursting with pride at how things are starting to take shape for Brenton in his chosen career.

[Update January, 2012]: With the fantastic experiences of SLiDE and Home and Away now behind him Brenton has managed to keep the momentum going. He has landed a support role in the new Australian film 'Save Your Legs'. Described as a coming of middle-aged 'bromance' the film follows three long-time friends who try to play for Australia.



Brenton played cricket at school where he wasn't happy unless he hit a "six" off every ball. Dare I suggest he'll be totally in his element if he is required to be filmed batting!! See: Save Your Legs

[Update March, 2012]: Well, I have to say this latest one is fantastic for him. Brenton has landed the male lead role in the remake of the famous Blue Lagoon movie - the unforgettable original starred Christopher Atkins and Brooke Shields.

At the time the original was a controversial movie because of the nudity. OK, as a young teenager myself when I first saw it I certainly didn't mind that at all, but now as a father of one of the actors I hope things are a little more tame. See: Blue Lagoon Remake - Behind the Scenes and The Official Trailer



[Update June, 2012]: Now that he has been rescued from a deserted island in "Blue Lagoon: The Awakening", there's no slowing his career momentum. He has landed an amazing role playing Prince Charming alongside Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning in a new Disney production of Maleficent, that retells the story of "Sleeping Beauty".

[Update] - The Maleficent trailer:



Brenton being interviewed about his role in Maleficent.

[Update Nov, 2012]: Following on from filming Disney's Maleficent Brenton has landed a role in a horror film. The film Oculus is about a woman trying to exonerate her brother (played by Brenton), who was convicted of murder, by proving that the crime was committed by a supernatural phenomenon.

This one sees Brenton off to the US again. He loves it over there. We haven't seen much of him for well over a year now.

[Update] - The Oculus trailer:

  
[Update Christmas, 2012]: A few days break over Chrismtmas got us all back to basics. And no, his new found fame didn't get him out of cleaning his room!!

Brenton, myself and Stacey bid a big hello from the sand dunes of Rainbow Beach the day after Chrissie.

See: Being Interviewed with Kate Waterhouse

[Update January, 2013]: Breton is now off the W.A. to film "Son of A Gun" alongside Ewan McGregor.

See: Son of a Gun casts Brenton Thwaites

The film marks the debut feature of acclaimed short filmmaker Julius Avery and centres on the relationship between a master criminal (Ewan McGregor) and his young protégé (Thwaites).

Breton tells me part of the prep for this film is being trained by experts in how to handle machine guns and hand guns. He never tells me much when he is filming (he is not allowed to) but by the sounds of things he is having an absolute ball.

[Update March, 2013]: Brenton has landed another lead role in the film "The Signal".

The Signal is a science fiction thriller film directed by William Eubank and co-written with Carlyle Eubank, David Frigerio and Sebastian Gutierrez. Brenton will be activing alongside Laurence Fishburne, Olivia Cooke and Lin Shaye.

[Update] - The Signal trailer:


[Update June, 2013]: Brenton has landed a lead role in the film "The Giver", starring Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep. 

Brenton plays a boy who is selected for his life service as the Receiver of Memories and works with The Giver (Jeff Bridges), an old man who teaches the boy to use his unique gifts of the senses. Meryl Streep will play the society’s Chief Elder, an authoritative and antagonistic woman who assigns the young their tasks.

See: Brenton Cast Opposite Jeff Bridges in The Giver

This one sees him off to South Africa. Amazing, just amazing!

[Update] - The Giver trailer:


[Update: September 2013]: Well, this latest one really hits the spot as it involves his love of surfing. Brenton has been cast alongside Helen Hunt and Like Wilson in a movie called "Ride".

See: Brenton Thwaites, Luke Wilson and More Take RIDE with Helen Hunt

Helen Hunt wrote the script, which sees Brenton playing a “NYU student who moves from New York to California for the summer. He leaves behind his strong-willed magazine editor mother (Hunt) and when she hears he is chucking school for surfing, she follows him.

[Update: January 2014]: His latest film is called Gods Of Egypt and is being filmed at the Fox studios in Sydney.

See: Gods of Egypt rolls in to Sydney

Brenton plays Bek, a young thief who joins the god Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) on a quest through the palaces and pyramids of ancient Egypt where they encounter the Sun god Ra (Geoffrey Rush) and the dark god Set (Gerard Butler), who killed and mutilated his brother Osiris. Horus, the son of Osiris, seeks revenge.

Except for a brief time off at Christmas 2012, he has now been pretty well flat out for the last three years straight. The crazy thing is I think there will about four major films at the cinema at the same time and each with him in it.

Anyway, great to see Gods Of Egypt being filmed in Australia. It also means he was able to take a well earned break before filming, so we slipped down for a surf at the 'secret spot' to recharge the batteries. And no, we didn't get bogged!



[Update: August 2014]: We are in New York city for the premier of the movie "The Giver".

Brenton, Stacey and myself on the red carpet for the premier of "The Giver" in New York. It was excellent to be able to share in this event with Brent and somewhat surreal to find myself in conversation with some of the cream of Hollywood - Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Katie Holmes, Harvey Weinstein, Phillip Noyce and more.

The book "The Giver" by Lois Lowry is taught in U.S. schools and as you would expect there is enormous interest in the movie across all age groups over there. The release of the movie was top-billing news in the U.S.

In Australia "The Giver" is to premier in early September in Brisbane and Sydney and as a favour to Brenton Village Roadshow *might* be also premiering it in Cairns, Brenton's home town and where we lived only up until recently.

[Update October, 2014]:
Son of a Gun movie released.

An edge-of-your-seat heist thriller starring Ewan McGregor and Brenton. Son of a Gun tells the story of a young man who is drawn into the lawless world of a notorious criminal.

This movie was filmed entirely in Western Australia and was an amazing experience for him in many ways. They filmed inside a real prison and he was trained to handle weapons.



[Update November 2014]: It just goes from amazing to amazing for him. His next big project is a role in the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

See: Brenton Confirms role in Pirates of the Caribbean

As to what role he'll be playing is unknown (probably under wraps) but he is over the moon it is being filmed here in Australia. Go you good thing!!

[Update March, 2017]: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is all complete and is about to be released.

I visited the Gold Coast set a few times and relished the opportunity to walked around the "Black Perl". Was quite an experience. Brenton had an absolute blast and tells me he and Johnny and a few others would often spend time during idle periods jamming away on their guitars and kicking up a storm!! Anyway, here's one of the trailers featuring him ....



Yes well ... I can kiss good-bye to any hopes of my son coming in to the e-Path business anytime soon, but hey, what an utterly amazing journey he is living right now. Let it roll on!!

Amidst all these off-topic fun updates about my son Brenton I'd like also to make a quick mention of my daughter Stacey. Stacey graduated from James Cook University in Cairns achieving a Bachelor of Science and is currently assisting part time here at e-Path as well as assisting Brenton as his PA as she awaits employment in her chosen field - Environmental Science. One of the most caring, compassionate, obsessively accurate and self-driven persons you are ever likely to meet, Stacey is set to make a wonderful contribution towards making the world a better place. Yes, I'm beaming with equal pride for both my children.

... just a thought
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Peter Thwaites
E-PATH CREDIT CARD PAYMENT GATEWAY

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Recent credit card and identity data breaches

The recent spate of serious data breaches resulting in vast amounts of highly confidential credit card and identity data being compromised is again forcing a re-think about the practice of permanently storing highly confidential data, such as credit card and identity information, online in databases, in "secure" storage devices or on networks.

If security defences was able to do the job of protecting then there would be no data breaches. If defences, security plug-in's, fraud alert systems and the like were all doing exactly as their sellers claim, there would be no data breaches and everyone's highly confidential data would be totally safe.

But the uncomfortable truth of the matter is there will always remain an inherent risk to the security of any highly sensitive and confidential information, including credit card and identity data, when that data is taken and permanently stored electronically somewhere, especially online.

These risks will vary of course. If the company handling or permanently storing your information within their systems is not PCI compliant then the risk is highly elevated, indeed, they should not even be touching credit card data without PCI compliance. If the company handling or permanently storing your credit card and/or identity data within their systems is PCI compliant then the risk is significantly reduced.

It is important to note here that PCI compliance does not absolutely 100% guarantee the security of your highly sensitive credit card and identity data. Even the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (the governing body responsible for PCI compliance) themselves will confirm this. 

Your credit card data is amongst the most confidential personally identifiable data you own therefore you have a fundamental right under Australian Privacy Laws to determine what happens to it, who gets to store it online and who doesn't.

Not only do you have these rights but it is also encumbered upon any organisation, person or identity handing this data of yours that they must inform you what is about to happen to your personally identifiable data, especially sensitive credit card data. 

Let ma ask you this question, the last time you paid by credit card online using an automated online credit card payment processing system were you told they will be permanently storing your credit card data within their systems and that it is unlikely you will be able to have it deleted?

I'm not talking about being the recipient of "sales" talk about how safe they believe their systems are, "super encryption", "one way hash", "secure vault" etc, I'm talking about the cold hard fact that your credit card data is being taken from you online, permanently stored somewhere within their systems without you being able to have it removed.

Much of the world is currently at war against many forms of "cyber-hacking" or "cyber-crime" activity that targets sensitive information including credit card and identity details.

I believe the time is now to start exercising some control over what of your highly sensitive information you will allow to be taken from you and permanently stored online, especially credit card and identity data. That control can simply mean deciding not to allow your highly confidential information or data to be permanently stored online.

If your sensitive data doesn't exist online or in any storage device or system then no matter how good the "cyber-hacker" your sensitive data is simply not there to be stolen. It is the absolute ultimate online protection for your confidential information, not just credit card and identity data. 

e-Path is the first credit card payment gateway designed from the ground up to put the security of cardholder data first for a change. We enable credit card payment authorisations from the internet where credit card and identity data is NEVER permanently stored anywhere within our systems online.

If you are an online business then by offering your customers the opportunity to pay online via a payment gateway that will not be permanently storing credit card and identity data within its systems, such as e-Path, you will be offering your online customers a supreme level of security.

At the risk of repeating myself, the fact is the overwhelming majority of credit card and identity data theft in the world today does not need to happen, you just need to choose the right payment gateway!

... just a thought
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Peter Thwaites
E-PATH CREDIT CARD PAYMENT GATEWAY