While credit card data breaches remain all too common, a new report from Verizon Business shows that following industry security standards can dramatically reduce such incidents.
In "Verizon Payment Card Industry Compliance Report", the company examines the state of compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), which was created in 2006 to protect cardholder data and reduce credit card fraud. The company investigators found that breached organizations are 50 per cent less likely to be PCI compliant and that only 22 per cent of organizations were PCI compliant at the time of their initial examination.
In addition to assessing the effectiveness of the PCI DSS, the report identifies which attack methods are most common and provides recommendations for businesses on earning and maintaining PCI compliance.
"The Verizon Payment Card Industry Compliance Report gives organizations an unprecedented view into the state of PCI compliance across the board, specifically pointing out which requirements are most difficult to meet," said Peter Tippett, Vice- President of Technology and Innovation, Verizon Business. "We hope this report will help organizations approach PCI compliance in a more informed and effective way. Ultimately, we want the same thing as the rest of the industry: fewer payment card losses and data breaches," he adds.
The compliance report is based on the findings from PCI DSS assessments conducted by Verizon's team of PCI Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs) in 2008 and 2009, and a review of a sample of approximately 200 assessments. As a QSA, Verizon audits and evaluates a company's compliance with the established PCI DSS, which is continually enhanced by the PCI Council, the governing body for PCI security standards and compliance.
