In an article for Computer Weekly, Jeremy King, International Director at the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) said “Companies, both large and small, need to act now and start putting in place robust standards and procedures to counter the cyber security threat, or face the prospect of paying astronomical costs in regulatory fines and reputational harm to their brand.”

Coventry and Warwickshire businesses accepting card payments have a duty of care to be PCI compliant, currently compliance is best practise, but from 1 February 2018 compliance will be mandatory. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) applies to businesses of all sizes and is in place to protect cardholder data.

If your business takes card payments and is the victim of a security breach after 1 February 2018 you will face a substantial fine and security breaches are becoming more commonplace. In 2015 the UK Government’s information security breaches survey reported that 90% of large organisations and 74% of SMEs were a victim of a security breach. This would equate to an estimated total of £1.4bn in regulatory fines.

To become PCI Compliant your business needs to demonstrate your IT networks (both internal and internet connections) are secure and that you have the correct defences in place to protect cardholder data.

HBT Communications, Coventry’s leading IT and Telecoms supplier, provides a complimentary PCI compliance review and will design a security solution to ensure your business meets the required regulations and avoids hefty penalties.

Act now and book your PCI review today. Call us on 02476 867 422