PowerTech Group joins PCI Security Standards Council

1/9/2008

Jan 9 -- The PowerTech Group Inc., a provider of enterprise security solutions for the IBM System i (AS/400), announced Monday that it has joined the PCI Security Standards Council, a global, open standards body providing guidance to the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Standard, as a new Participating Organization. As a Participating Organization, PowerTech will work with the Council to evolve the PCI Data Security Standard (DSS) and other payment card data protection standards, PowerTech said.

The PCI DSS, endorsed by American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa Inc., requires merchants and service providers that store, process or transmit customer payment card data to adhere to information security controls and processes that ensure data integrity, PowerTech said.

As a Participating Organization, PowerTech will now have access to the latest payment card security standards from the Council, be able to provide feedback on the standards and become part of a growing community that now includes more than 350 organizations, PowerTech said. In an era of increasingly sophisticated attacks on systems, adhering to the PCI DSS represents an entity's best protection against data criminals. By joining as a Participating Organization, PowerTech is adding its voice to the process, the company added.

PowerTech provides security in managing evolving compliance and data privacy threats with automated security solutions for IBM Midrange Servers, the company said. Its ServerProven security solutions are straightforward and save valuable IT resources, giving the user with ongoing protection and peace of mind, PowerTech said.

As System i and AS/400 servers are used to host particularly sensitive corporate data, it is imperative that you practice proactive compliance security, PowerTech said. As an IBM Advanced Business Partner with over 800 customers worldwide, PowerTech understands corporate vulnerability and the risks associated with data privacy and access control, the company added.

The mission of the PCI Security Standards Council is to enhance payment account security by fostering broad adoption of PCI security standards, the council said.

The PCI Security Standards Council is committed to helping everyone involved in the payment chain protect consumer payment data, according to the PCI Security Standards Council. By participating in the standards setting process, PowerTech demonstrates they are playing an active part in this important end goal, it said.

PowerTech provides data privacy and compliance solutions that help organizations using the System i comply with a range of standards including PCI, PowerTech said. According to industry research, the System i is used by more than 90 percent of the Fortune 1000 alone, usually to host sensitive and confidential data such as credit card data. However, in PowerTech's 2007 study on the state of security for the System i, the company found the System i is typically left under secured by a majority of organizations, because of improper configuration due to lack of experience or the lack of tools, the company said. Furthering the problem is that many auditors and IT administrators are unaware of the vulnerabilities, resulting in critical data exposures in spite of a successful IT audit, PowerTech added.

PowerTech is pleased to be accepted as a Participating Organization in this important security standards organization, The PowerTech Group said. The IBM System i running i5/OS is a critical platform for credit card payment processing, and while it is highly reliable, it is often left wide open for attack simply by not being configured properly. By joining the Council, PowerTech hopes to add its particular knowledge in helping organizations close this security gap, the company added.
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