PCI Security Standards Council Offers Guidance for Protecting Payment Card Data

Credit Cards Mobile Payment Systems Privacy/Cyber Risk & Data Security

On February 14, the PCI Security Standards Council, the open global forum responsible for setting payment security standards, issued guidelines for merchants on the factors and risks they must address to protect card data when using mobile devices. The guidance addresses the three main risks associated with mobile payment transactions: account data entering the device, account data residing in the device, and account data leaving the device. The guidance also (i) provides recommended measures for merchants regarding the physical and logical security of mobile devices used for payment acceptance, and (ii) recommendations regarding the different components of the payment acceptance solution, including the hardware, software, the use of the payment acceptance solution, and the relationship with the customer. The PCI Security Standards Council also recently released guidance for securing payment card data in cloud environments, and guidance regarding security for payment transactions conducted over the Internet.