PCI London 2013: Cardholder Data Discovery Critical to Mitigating Fraud and Data Theft

LONDON, Jan. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- On January 24, merchants, payment service providers, acquiring banks, and card schemes will convene for the PCI London 2013 regional forum to discuss the best ways to secure payment systems, protect customer cardholder data and meet PCI DSS compliance requirements.

RSA recently reported that data hacking incidents have risen by 19% over the past six months. This evidence combined with increasing instances of public data breach disclosures has alarmed many organisations and created additional pressure on business stakeholders to address these evolving risks.

Ground Labs, a prominent developer of PCI security and auditing software solutions, will be presenting at the forum as part of the company's efforts to educate UK businesses. Ground Labs advocates for getting back to basics in identifying what needs to be secured before making critical decisions about how to secure it. The company believes that this approach is more effective than the current trend in which organisations are bypassing these fundamental steps in favour of adopting expensive and complex data security solutions that may be inadequate.

"Criminals are always going to look for opportunities to steal sensitive cardholder data," explains Stephen Cavey, Director of Corporate Development for Ground Labs. "It is alarming that many organisations still overlook critical steps, such as identifying the location of all sensitive information. Such steps are the foundation of a solid information security program and must occur before the organisation can establish a plan for achieving and maintaining PCI compliance on an ongoing basis."

Cardholder data is commonly held insecurely in electronic documents, yet most firms are unaware of how and where the data is being stored, and therefore unprepared to manage the security risks. A recent survey of more than 100 businesses revealed stored credit card data that was unbeknown to management. In fact, Ground Labs' auditing software identified more than 20 million credit card numbers on the network of a single company that mistakenly believed it did not have any cardholder data. In a similar case within a large multinational firm, more than 100 million customer payment card numbers were identified.

The PCI London event brings together senior decision-makers and PCI compliance experts who are responsible for protecting their customers' cardholder data across the U.K. It is scheduled to be held on January 24, 2013 at the Victoria Park Plaza Hotel in London and is expected to attract over 400 attendees.

"We applaud the companies throughout the region and the world that are making data security a high priority," says Mr. Cavey. "We view PCI London as an opportunity to educate organisations about common PCI compliance mistakes related to cardholder data storage practices and demonstrate practical, cost-saving strategies that can steer them toward full PCI compliance."

Sky, a communications provider with 10.6 million customers across the UK and Ireland, is one of many prominent companies using Ground Labs' Enterprise Recon to protect consumers' cardholder data. "We are privileged to work closely with the information security professionals at Sky and similar companies," says Mohamed Zouine, EMEA Director at Ground Labs. "Their continuous, automated monitoring and auditing of cardholder data really embodies the spirit of PCI DSS and our combined efforts to protect consumers' data."

Executives from Visa Europe, Heathrow Group and other leading organisations in the payment card industry will make additional presentations throughout the event. In addition, Ground Labs' EMEA Director, Mohamed Zouine, will make a presentation on cardholder data discovery insights.

UK-based merchants are invited to attend PCI London at no charge. Seats are limited and online registration must be submitted at www.pci-portal.com/pci-london.

About Ground Labs

Ground Labs is a global leader in the development of security and auditing software solutions for the payment card industry. Its flagship products, Card Recon and Enterprise Recon, are used to perform cardholder data discovery on computer systems worldwide, helping companies prevent security breaches that result in the theft of customers' credit and debit card numbers. With offices in Singapore, London and Seattle, more than 2,500 customers rely upon Ground Labs products across 75+ countries. For information and product demos, visit www.groundlabs.com.

For more information, please contact:

SOURCE Ground Labs Pte Limited