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The Cisco Catalyst access points on your Catalyst 9800 controllers can passively watch your payment terminals for card skimmers around the clock — connected through Cisco Spaces, with no new hardware to install.
SkimGuard detects skimmers that transmit a wireless signal. A clear result is not a guarantee that a terminal is safe — always check the card reader physically as well.
Cisco Catalyst is a separate Cisco platform from Meraki. Catalyst runs on Catalyst 9800 controllers with Catalyst APs and connects to SkimGuard through Cisco Spaces. Meraki is cloud-managed through the Meraki dashboard. If you run Catalyst and Cisco Spaces, you're on the right page. Running Meraki instead? See Cisco Meraki skimmer detection.
Catalyst + Cisco Spaces + SkimGuard
Yes — Cisco Catalyst can help detect card skimmers. Catalyst access points already observe the Bluetooth devices around them, and SkimGuard's Automated tier turns that telemetry into always-on skimmer monitoring for your payment terminals.
Handheld scanning is a snapshot: a skimmer installed an hour after the morning check goes unseen until the next one. The Catalyst path closes that gap using the Cisco Spaces platform that sits over your Catalyst 9800 controllers.
This is SkimGuard's Automated tier. A license is locked to one tier — Automated (always-on monitoring via network or desktop agent) or Handheld (staff scan with the app). SkimGuard scans Bluetooth today and adds new wireless detection technologies over time as the threat environment evolves.
Cisco Catalyst is Cisco's controller-based enterprise wireless line, and the integration rests on three pieces: Catalyst 9800 wireless LAN controllers, the Catalyst 9100 access points they manage, and a Cisco Spaces connector / tenant that bridges your network to the Spaces cloud. The 9100 APs see the Bluetooth around them, the 9800 controllers manage those APs, and Cisco Spaces is the platform that carries the telemetry out to SkimGuard. If you already run Catalyst 9800 with Cisco Spaces, every ingredient is in place.
This is the biggest way Catalyst differs from Meraki. Meraki pushes events to a webhook you configure per network; Cisco Spaces instead publishes a continuous streaming feed — the Cisco Spaces Firehose. SkimGuard holds a persistent connection to that feed and processes your Catalyst APs' Bluetooth telemetry in real time, as it arrives, rather than waiting for individual pushes. For a busy venue that means monitoring keeps pace with the room instead of arriving in bursts.
If you run Catalyst 9800 controllers with Cisco Spaces, this is your integration. If you run Cisco Meraki instead — cloud-managed through the Meraki dashboard, no Catalyst controllers — use the Cisco Meraki skimmer detection page. They're two separate Cisco wireless platforms with two separate setups.
FAQ
Yes — paired with SkimGuard's Automated tier, Cisco Catalyst access points act as card-skimmer sensors. Catalyst APs on Catalyst 9800 controllers observe nearby Bluetooth devices, and Cisco Spaces streams that BLE telemetry to SkimGuard, which classifies each device against known skimmer-hardware signatures so your existing Catalyst network watches your payment terminals around the clock.
No. Cisco Catalyst is a separate Cisco platform from Meraki. Catalyst runs on Catalyst 9800 controllers with Catalyst APs and connects to SkimGuard through Cisco Spaces, whereas Meraki is cloud-managed through the Meraki dashboard. If you run Catalyst and Cisco Spaces, this is the right page; if you run Meraki, use the Cisco Meraki page instead.
Yes. On the Catalyst platform, Cisco Spaces is how Bluetooth telemetry leaves your network. Your Catalyst 9800 controllers and Catalyst 9100 APs connect to Cisco Spaces through a connector or tenant, and SkimGuard consumes the Spaces streaming feed. If you don't run Cisco Spaces over your Catalyst estate, that's the piece to put in place first.
A webhook (as used by Meraki) pushes discrete events to a URL you configure. The Cisco Spaces Firehose is instead a continuous streaming feed: SkimGuard holds a persistent connection to Spaces and processes Bluetooth telemetry in real time as it arrives, rather than receiving individual pushes. The result is the same detections in one dashboard, delivered as a live stream.
Cisco Spaces exposes a Firehose streaming feed — a continuous data stream (a pull stream, not a webhook). SkimGuard consumes that stream to receive your Catalyst APs' Bluetooth Low Energy observations in real time, runs the same detection engine used across the platform, and rolls detections up into one dashboard with a public “scanned recently” badge.
No. The Catalyst integration reuses the Cisco Catalyst access points you already have. Once Cisco Spaces is streaming Bluetooth telemetry to SkimGuard, those APs become the sensors — nothing new is installed.
It's SkimGuard's Automated tier, priced per location at a flat rate — unlimited Catalyst access points with no per-AP charge — and the handheld app is included free. See the for-business page for current pricing, or start setup to get a quote for your locations.
Get started
Turn your existing Cisco Catalyst Wi-Fi, via Cisco Spaces, into always-on skimmer detection. Start setup for your locations — see the for-business page for current pricing.