CMCS Ltd., a leading provider of disaster recovery and business continuity services to the print and mail industry, today announces it has achieved Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) compliance, the internationally-recognised industry standard for payment account data security. Certified as a level one service provider, this reinforces CMCS' ability to provide secure services to its customers where the need to protect cardholder information is critical.

PCI DSS

Endorsed by American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB International, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa Inc. the PCI DSS is viewed by the payment card industry as the de facto security requirement for organisations that store, process or transmit customer payment card data and requires merchants and service providers that do so to adhere to information security controls and processes that ensure data integrity.

The PCI DSS is a multifaceted security standard that requires applicants to demonstrate competencies across a range of disciplines including security management, policies, procedures, network architecture and software design. The core elements of PCI DSS are as follows:

• Build and maintain a secure network
• Protect Cardholder Data
• Maintain a Vulnerability Management Programme
• Implement Strong Access Control Measures
• Regularly Monitor and Test Networks
• Maintain an Information Security Policy

Enhanced Data Security

As a result of achieving PCI DSS compliancy, customers that supply CMCS with store credit card details, transaction data and customer information are assured that their data is stored and managed securely with procedures that comply with stringent security standards outlined by payment card issuers.

"Achieving PCI DSS compliance demonstrates to our customers, suppliers, and staff that our networking infrastructure meets the most stringent of security requirements. It is important that our customers are confident that CMCS reaches and surpasses the highest industry standards in protecting cardholder data. We are already ISO 27001 accredited and so by becoming PCI DSS compliant we continue to support our customers high security demands."

In order to gain compliance CMCS has undergone a complete overhaul of its internal IT infrastructure followed by a comprehensive audit of the hardware, software, network architecture, information management policies and other critical security measures that are used within the organisation. The accreditation from the PCI Security Standards Council provides official recognition of the security of the systems used to store and process payment account data within CMCS' network.

For more information please take a look at the Accreditations we currently hold.