Companies need to make sure their systems and suppliers are ready for an upcoming change to Bacs internet security technology in June.
Bacs, a payment network which processes 3.9 billion direct debit payments in the UK each year, said that the internet community is adopting a new security certification – called SHA-2 – which will affect how companies access its payment services.
Bacs has advised companies to:
- Check with their Bacs Approved Software Solutions provider that your Bacstel-IP software currently supports, or will be upgraded to support, SHA-2 SSL certificates and TLS 1.1/1.2 by 13 June
- If you access the Payment Services website, check with your IT provider that your browser and operating system support these security changes
- Bacs is withdrawing support for older connection protocols to improve the service’s security.
From 13 June it will only support TLS 1.1 and 1.2.
The current smartcard, digital certificate and signing solution “will be replaced in due course by your sponsoring bank with new ones which provide a higher level of security around the process that enables you to log on, or sign and submit Bacs files,” Bacs said.
