If you have not read one of the “EAT THIS, NOT THAT!” books, then I encourage you to do so as they are a real eye-opener for those trying to eat healthy and watch their fat intake. In our fast-pace, dine out multiple times per week society, it is easy to become a victim of good advertisement, smart marketing and devilishly tasty foods loaded with sugar, carbs, fats and cream. My stomach growls just at the thought of it!
The same holds true in the world of data security and compliance. One must tread cautiously onto the path of compliance as there are many false statements, advertisements and promises being made. For example: “Our solution will make you compliant,” “We provide a compliant hardware solution,” or “You will not need to worry about PCI with our solution.” Very simply, these statements are all false and hide the reality the same way a Chinese Chicken Salad at your favorite fast casual restaurant hides 1,200 calories in dressing and fried toppings.
The reality is that no one product or company can make a business PCI DSS compliant. PCI DSS compliance is a point-in-time measure against 12 requirements with over 200 qualifiers, of which over 30 percent deal with process, documentation and employee education. Although many Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs), including Radiant Systems, bring technology solutions to one or more of the 12 PCI DSS requirements and can greatly reduce the work required of a merchant, no one MSSP can assume full responsibility for compliance. Merchants must invest time, resources, money and energy into PCI DSS the same as they do for menu/recipe creation, product marketing and customer loyalty programs.
As a business operator who decides to accept and process credit card transactions, one must accept the added responsibility to protect that data, otherwise stomachs will be growling for much different reasons than calorie rich recipes as one learns of a criminal attack within their business.
For more information on the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and best security practices in general, please visit www.restaurantdatasecurity.com, www.retaildatasecurity.com or www.pcisecuritystandards.org.
Tags: compliance, data security, eat this not that, Executive, managed security service provider, MSSP, nasdaq: RADS, PA DSS, Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, PCI, PCI Compliance, PCI Compliant, pci dss, PCI Security Standards, rads
