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PCI Security Pain: Amid Recession, Merchants Struggle to Comply

With the recession drying up compliance budgets, merchants send PCI Security Standards Council General Manager Bob Russo a letter asking for help (includes audio).

By Bill Brenner, Senior Editor

As difficult as the economy is making compliance for many merchants, Russo said he's also hearing from those who want to move more aggressively on PCI security improvements because of another byproduct of the recession -- a significant spike in online crime. [See: With Economic Slump, Concerns Rise Over Data Theft]. He said merchants won't have to worry as long as they're making an honest effort to meet PCI compliance needs to the best of their ability.

"It's not our goal to put people out of business over compliance," Russo said. "The fact that they're giving us feedback is exactly what we're looking for. A lot of this stuff is already in play."

He added that merchants will have ample opportunity to weigh in on the next version of PCI DSS in the coming months. The council is now seeking feedback on what could be improved upon in the next version, and a series of community meetings and workshops are planned.

"The Community Meetings are the highlight of our year, where stakeholders from across the globe partner to evolve the PCI standards and work together toward a more secure payment environment," he said. "For the PCI Security Standards to continue to be effective in protecting cardholder data, we must continue to solicit and represent the voices of payment chain stakeholders worldwide. We do this through a structured, but flexible, lifecycle and feedback process that provides critical input on future PCI security standards."

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