PCI DSS: Clarity, From The Source

By Matt Pillar, Editor In Chief, Integrated Solutions For Retailers magazine

Last July we ran a special report on retailers' perceptions of the PCI SSC (Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council). We generated data for the report by surveying our subscribers, asking them open-ended questions about their understanding of security standards, their opinions on the Standards Council, and their take on the solutions provider community's race to sell "PCI-compliant" solutions. While we received volumes of passionate responses that made for some very colorful editorial, in retrospect I don't think the report offered you enough value, short of giving you a sounding board on which to vent frustration. I think we dedicated too much ink to the confused and the complainers and not enough to the experts and problem solvers. That said, in an effort to be inclusive and temper the sensationalism, we saved considerable space in the report for a Q&A with Troy Leach, technical director for the PCI SSC. As it turned out, his contribution offered more insight and value to our audience than anything else we published.