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CRE Loaded PCI Security
Tue, 02/16/2010 - 1:30pm
PCI Security requirements are one of the most significant developments of the past decade. Developed as a result of an alliance of Payment Card Associations, the PCI Standards provide a central focus for the security efforts of all members. They are also the subject of a great deal of confusion among the merchants and service providers who now have to deal with implementing requirements and validating compliance.
As eCommerce Hosting and IT operations specialists we deal with PCI compliance every day. We also see a number of misconceptions about it presented across the web, many of them by so called experts. Among those is the assertion that if you just use this payment module or that software package, none of this needs to apply to you. The PCI Standards very clearly state that they apply to every business that accepts payments using payment cards of any type serviced by the member Payment Card Associations. This includes Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and any card brand owned by these companies. If your business accepts these cards by any means, you are subject to PCI Compliance. Other misconceptions include the idea that once achieved PCI Compliance is finished or that the use of one "super-vendor" can make you compliant. You may find the PCI Standards Organization's pdf download "10 Common Myth's of PCI DSS" to be of some help in dispelling these and 7 other potentially hazardous myths about the Data Security Standards. More information can be found at their website
Why is PCI Compliance So Important?
15 Million Americans succumbed to Identity theft costing US companies in 2005 nearly 56.6 Billion dollars! The Bureau of Justice Statistics states an estimated 3.6 million households were affected by identity theft during a 6-month period in 2004. If an entire year was considered, that could mean that 7.2 million households were affected in a 12 month period.
Consumerfraudreporting.org reports that Credit/Debit Card fraud accounts for 4.7% of internet fraud, costing victims an average of $223 each. Non-delivery of merchandise and/or payments costs the average victim a whopping $800 and adds up to 28.6% of reported fraud. Given consumer concern over the size of the issue, can your company afford NOT to invest in the basic security measures PCI Standards present?
Hosting-4-CRELoaded helps you to achieve and maintain PCI Compliance in two very important ways. We maintain our servers in a state of PCI compliance as a matter of routine at no extra cost to our clients. Then, we provide dedicated eCommerce IT operations management and support services for select shopping carts via our Site Operations Management program at very reasonable rates. Along with those services, we maintain IT records and services which can be used to meet PCI Compliance requirements and lower your total cost of operations.
