Companies processing credit and payment cards that fail to meet the October 1 deadline to become fully PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliant, face mounting pressure from banks – with smaller UK companies in particular likely to be slipping behind. So says e-commerce firm IT Governance.
The firm announces a set of dedicated resources to help the SME meet that PCI DSS deadline.
The package – the PCI Compliance and Support Contract for the Smaller Business – brings together consultancy, training and scanning services with security assessors, with built-in discounts for longer-term contracts. Credit card merchants are stratified by payment brands like VISA and MasterCard into a number of levels, and the package is designed to offer the most appropriate consultancy and merchant support for the level of transactions processed on an annual basis, the firm says.
The payment card industry is seeing significant increases in the hacking of merchant security systems to fraudulently obtain card data, particularly with merchants who accept cardholder information over the Internet, and so has stepped up the pressure to get PCI DSS implemented as widely as possible. Levels 2 to 4 card processing merchants are particularly vulnerable, risking fines, as well as possibly losing their merchant facilities.
“This is very clear warning for merchants to comply with the PCI DSS standard, and it proves how serious the banks are about combating hacking and avoiding the risk of any data breach,” says IT Governance’s CEO, Alan Calder.
“PCI DSS has to be addressed – and soon,” adds Calder. “Our Smaller Business Support Contract is a service which provides a highly cost-effective PCI compliance service to the smaller merchant, who is a likely target for criminals.”
Any SME wanting to get more information about PCI DSS and the IT Governance package can visit –
