How to Achieve PCI Compliance

Protecting Credit Card Data
By Motorola
Published 2007, Posted December 2007

Abstract:

These days, anyone who owns a credit card is familiar with the problem of identity theft, in which technology-savvy thieves extract customer credit and debit card information from unsecured databases. It’s a problem that affects everyone in the retail supply chain - the payment card companies, the banks, the retailers, and the individual customers whose identities are compromised. And while there are many ways to implement network protection, some retailers have delayed updating databases and networks with the latest authentication and encryption safeguards. Meanwhile, electronic thieves have been proactive in finding and attacking vulnerable networks. The problem has worsened over the years, especially with more and more retailers implementing wireless technology, which opens a new set of challenges. As technology proceeds in providing ease of use for consumers and stores alike, payment card security standards have been lax at best, especially in the United States, where credit card companies own the responsibility to protect the consumer data. Burdened by this liability, several credit card companies have joined forces to establish the Payment Card Industry (PCI) council, in order to create a common and accepted set of security guidelines. These guidelines are designed to keep retailers and their customers from falling victim to identity theft - to ensure that credit card data is protected.