Visa leads effort at PCI conference to minimise payment information vulnerability

Participants also shared best practices, emerging technologies, and discussed ongoing industry challenges during the daylong event.

Kamran Siddiqi, MENA General Manager, Visa, delivered the keynote speech at the conference which promotes the widespread adoption of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). In his speech, Mr Siddiqi focused on data protection and fraud prevention through common data security policies and practices.

"Visa has been at the forefront of the issue of data security and payment card fraud, initiating its Account Information Security (AIS) programme in 2000. The programme, which originally concentrated on the importance of data storage, was the precursor and foundation for the PCI DSS,"

said Kamran Siddiqi, General Manager, Visa Inc.

In addition to the conference, sessions, educational seminars, and interactive workshops provided exchanges between participants allowing for a greater understanding of the issues around payment card data vulnerability and the benefits of the PCI DSS.

"Gartner, the information technology research and advisory firm, estimates that 20 - 30% of Global 1000 companies suffer exposure resulting from privacy mismanagement. The costs to recover from these security mistakes often range from $5 - 20 million for each organisation. Whether data loss is occurring accidentally by businesses or illegally through theft by individuals, the loss of data and the resulting fraud are largely preventable concluded Siddiqi.