As the newest member to Wind River Financial, I come with a data security background (and a touch of dry humor, which we’ll get to later) and I can tell you security is both pervasive and nebulous at the same time. Businesses of all shapes and sizes struggle with security and compliance. Nothing would make them happier than finding a path to easier PCI compliance.
If you’re a merchant, nothing strikes more fear than these three letters together – P…C…I. For most smaller businesses, it’s usually the initial exposure to some technical security controls and processes that aren’t for the faint of heart. For larger businesses, there are entire teams of people dedicated to ensuring PCI compliance is made easier.
The good news is that Wind River has partnered with an industry leader in Trustwave and introduced the Advanced Security Package (ASP), which assists organizations at all levels with not only PCI but being more secure overall. That’s right. ASP is here to calm the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) with PCI and security. To that point, I wanted to provide you with some information to help navigate the value I’m hearing with the Advanced Security Package from Wind River.
I have spent my first weeks talking to customers and conducting surveys to understand the needs around PCI, compliance and security. After a recent survey, we saw that security was rated extremely valuable by over 67% of respondents, showing that our customers see the value in security tools.
To that point, the things people found most important in ASP were easier PCI compliance, faster PCI compliance and the ability to keep compliance cost effective. Finally, over 50 percent of our clients have said they are satisfied to extremely satisfied with the Advanced Security Package.
Getting into the details, I would rank the areas customers are benefiting from in the following order (As a product guy, you will often find me giving prioritized lists. It’s just in my nature.):
- Vulnerability Scans – Certified and easy to schedule scans allow for visibility into security shortcomings.
- Anti-virus – The Trustwave Anti-virus is a cost-effective solution to any additional costs you may occur with protecting systems. Remember, the Trustwave anti-virus can be downloaded to several machines!
- Web & Ecommerce Malware Protection
- Pre-filled answers to the SAQ (Self-Assessment Questionnaire) – Clients are saying they love that fact that by downloading Endpoint to their system(s), the SAQ is pre-filled with answers and can be saved for later use. Saving customers time is what I heard loud and clear.
- File Integrity Monitoring
- Unauthorized Device Detection
Now, these are just some of the tools to help merchants with faster and easier PCI compliance. With the new Advanced Security Package, there are 13 security tools in all that can be leveraged. Also, keep in mind, the tools available can be downloaded to an unlimited number of systems where most other tools are limited by the number of systems, users or endpoints that can be used. Check your existing costs to see about some potentially large savings.
For the small businesses, I’m hearing there is a great value in terms of helping business owners with faster, easier PCI compliance, so they can focus on accelerating their business and providing the best possible customer service. For larger businesses, I’m hearing there is great value in augmenting the existing tools along with saving a lot of money compared to existing security tools.
Whether the tools don’t exist or are under another vendor’s contract, it’s worth looking at the Advanced Security Package to help save your organization time and money. Finally, if you don’t want to take my word for it, how about one of our clients. I had the opportunity to talk to Trisha Miller, Controller at Kayser Automotive Group, who shared with me the following.
“The Advanced Security Package is much easier and definitely more user-friendly than the previous PCI program. I would definitely recommend it to other clients!”
Now, for those of you who have read this far and caught my Blue Öyster Cult reference in the title, I’ll leave you with this. While most PCI programs have some cowbell, those who need more cowbell can check out the Advanced Security Package and get a jump start with this educational webinar.
Have more feedback or comments around this topic or others? Feel free to contact me. I’d love to hear from you!
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