WAKEFIELD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), a global, open industry standards body providing management of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), PIN Transaction Security (PTS) requirements and the Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS), today announced successful completion of its first ever Asia Pacific Town Hall Meeting.

The one-day meeting gathered more than 200 stakeholders representing 123 organizations from 16 countries in the Asia Pacific region, including payment card brands, banks, merchants, technology vendors and assessors. Additionally, more than 50 individuals attended the Council’s Internal Security Assessor (ISA) and PCI Awareness training sessions, highlighting the growing interest and participation in PCI from stakeholders in the region.

More than 50 representatives from the over 40 PCI Council Participating Organizations in the region were in attendance. “I am glad the Council chose Singapore as its venue for its Asia Pacific Town Hall, as it gave me the opportunity to hear firsthand from the Council.” said TAN Kwang Pon, CISSP, information security analyst at FedEx Express (APAC), a Council Participating Organization. “PCIDSS provides a good baseline that covers the broad domain of information security. Organizations should make use of this standard to benchmark its security posture."

The interactive forum provided attendees the opportunity to receive the latest updates from the Council and to ask questions and provide feedback on PCI and payment security challenges in the region. Additional highlights included:

• Discussion of the Council’s ongoing work in key technology areas affecting the APAC region, including recently released PCI Point-to-Point Encryption Solution Requirements and fact sheet for merchants on secure mobile payment acceptance
• Updates on Special Interest Groups (SIGs) on ecommerce security, risk assessment and cloud computing, as well as new participation opportunities for 2013 projects
• Tips for helping organizations build PCI into their everyday business practices and plan ahead for PCI compliance

• Insights from forensics experts into the threat landscape in Asia and globally and how PCI DSS and the PCI community can work to improve payment security in the region

“Asia Pacific is at the forefront when it comes to many of the technologies being used today in payments,” said Troy Leach, chief technology officer, PCI Security Standards Council. “Many of the organizations represented at this meeting are already actively involved in the work the Council is doing in these areas, and we hope to see this grow as we continue to provide guidance on how to leverage these technologies for increased payment security.”

“I was especially encouraged to see the level of engagement and collaboration fostered in this first town hall meeting in the region,” said Bob Russo, general manager, PCI Security Standards Council. “I look forward to building on this in the year ahead as we update the next version of the standards and continue to look at evolving technologies and their impact on global payment security.”

Participating Organizations and assessors in the APAC region are also invited to attend the annual PCI Community Meetings in Orlando, Florida and Dublin, Ireland, where PCI stakeholders from around the world come together to discuss payment card security and the ongoing development of the PCI Standards. For more information and to register, please visit: https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/communitymeeting/2012/.

About the PCI Security Standards Council

The PCI Security Standards Council is an open global forum that is responsible for the development, management, education, and awareness of the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and other standards that increase payment data security. Founded in 2006 by the major payment card brands American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB International, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa Inc., the Council has over 600 Participating Organizations representing merchants, banks, processors and vendors worldwide. To learn more about playing a part in securing payment card data globally, please visit: pcisecuritystandards.org.

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