In order to help businesses comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), IBM has announced a new PCI compliance program. The company created what it believes to be a comprehensive program that will help merchants to assess their current systems and guide them through the process of certification compliance.
These PCI global standards are meant to help keep consumer credit card information protected throughout the entire purchase process. It also helps to provide a greater level of protection as this information is transmitted and while the data is being stored. The main purpose of these standards is quite simple – to prevent security breaches from occurring. Since any company that processes credit cards is at risk of being attacked, it’s important for these safeguards to be put into place.
The credit card industry is finally starting to clamp down on these requirements. As such, companies that do not comply will begin to face increased processing fees as well as fines and may even lose their privileges to process credit cards entirely.
Despite the publicity revolving around security breaches and the penalties associated with failing to comply with PCI standards, experts estimate that less than 50% of companies are currently in compliance. As of July, Visa reported that only 39% of level one merchants and only 33% of level two merchants were in compliance. This is why it’s time for consumers to begin to take action and to demand that these standards be put in place. Perhaps a consumer reaction will finally get these companies to implement the levels of security that are necessary to keep this information adequately protected.
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