SAN FRANCISCO, July 9 /PRNewswire/ --

- New version reduces complexity and cost of PCI Compliance for merchants
and service providers; continues to deliver the most up-to-date tool for
timely, accurate PCI compliance

nCircle, the leading provider of agentless security risk and compliance
management solutions, today announced the nCircle Certified PCI Scan Service
version 2.0. This version extends the scan service to include automated
preparation of the Self-Assessment Questionnaire as well as online submission
of the certified quarterly PCI reports for automated retrieval by acquiring
financial institutions. The addition of these capabilities to the scan
service simplifies compliance administration and enables merchants and
service providers of all sizes to demonstrate PCI compliance easily and
cost-effectively.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051214/SFW028LOGO )

The nCircle Certified PCI Scan Service version 2.0 now includes an online
version of the Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ), a required validation
tool developed by the PCI Security Standards Council for merchants and
service providers to demonstrate PCI compliance. Users can complete the
questionnaire online and revisit the document as often as required to ensure
accuracy before submitting it for review. In addition, this version also
automates the process of filing the SAQ and quarterly PCI reports at the
completion of a network scan, through an online portal. The service then
automatically notifies the acquiring financial institution when reports are
available for secure, convenient retrieval.

These new capabilities, when combined with automated network scanning and
a streamlined vulnerability remediation process, simplify administration
while reducing the operational costs associated with demonstrating quarterly
PCI compliance. In addition to benefiting merchants and service providers,
the new version also benefits acquiring financial institutions by enabling
them to regularly monitor the compliance status of their merchants.

Additional highlights of the new version include the addition of Common
Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base scores as indicated in the National
Vulnerability Database to the auto-generated PCI reports. CVSS is an industry
standard established to commonly assess the severity of a vulnerability to
help prioritize the urgency of response to address it. It solves the problem
of multiple, vendor-specific scoring systems and simplifies tracking PCI
compliance for merchants, service providers and acquiring financial
institutions. The PCI Data Security Standard (DSS) v1.1 requires that as of
June 30th, 2007, all Approved Scanning Vendors must be able to deliver
certified PCI reports that include CVSS scores.

"The nCircle Certified PCI Scan Service was among the first to pass
rigorous testing to become a certified Approved Scan Vendor under the
enhanced version 1.1 of the PCI Data Security Standard," said Stefan Petry,
Vice President of Product Management, nCircle. "We continue to expand our
vision for the service by being among the first to deliver the most advanced,
yet simple, and up to date PCI compliance tools in the industry."

"The Payment Card Industry and the standard are both still evolving,
leaving companies to face a number of uncertainties regarding PCI
compliance," said Dave Shackleford, Vice President for the Center for
Internet Security and Founder of Blue Heron Security, Inc. "They should
certainly consider partnering with companies like nCircle, who continue to
meet and exceed industry requirements to offer reliable compliance services."

The nCircle Certified PCI Scan Service v2.0 is now available at
https://pci.ncircle.com. First time users are offered a free scan.

About nCircle

nCircle is the leading provider of agentless security risk and compliance
management solutions. More than 3,500 enterprises, government agencies and
service providers around the world rely on nCircle's proactive security
solutions to identify, measure, manage and reduce security risk and automate
compliance on their networks. nCircle has won numerous awards for growth,
innovation and technology leadership and has been ranked among the top 100
best places to work in the San Francisco Bay Area. nCircle is headquartered
in San Francisco, CA, with regional offices throughout the USA and in London,
Toronto and Tokyo. Additional information about nCircle is available at
http://www.ncircle.com

nCircle is a registered trademark of nCircle Network Security, Inc. All
other registered or unregistered trademarks are the sole property of their
respective owners

Web site: http://www.ncircle.com