WAKEFIELD, Massachusetts, September 24 /PRNewswire/ --

- More than 300 attendees from more than 220 Global Organizations Attend
Council Meeting in Toronto

The PCI Security Standards Council, an independent industry standards
body providing management of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard
on a global basis, today announced the successful completion of the first PCI
Security Standards Council Community Meeting, held in Toronto, Ontario on
September 17-19, 2007. This highly anticipated event attracted hundreds of
Council supporters and payment data security advocates from around the globe.
The meeting served as a platform for collaboration in the evolution of data
security standards, where participants shared best practices, heard about the
security experiences of representatives from across the payment industry and
planned for the future of credit card data security.

More than 320 representatives from the Council's Participating
Organization membership, Qualified Security Assessors (QSA) and Approved
Scanning Vendors (ASV) gathered at this global event. Payment industry
stakeholders interacted with Council executives and committee members and
networked with fellow data security professionals and the Council's Board of
Advisors.

"The Community Meeting represents the next step in meeting the challenge
of payment card security," said Bob Russo, general manager of the Council.
"This week we brought together hundreds of global stakeholders, all united in
a singular goal of enhancing payment data security. These organizations
recognize not only the business case for stronger data security, but also
that protecting cardholder data is everyone's responsibility and is simply
the right thing to do."

Topics discussed include: important updates on the Council's feedback
process for the Data Security Standard (DSS) version 1.1, the soon-to-be
released Self-Assessment Questionnaire version 1.1, the Payment Application
Data Security Standard (known under Visa as PABP and PASS) the Pin Entry
Device (PED) Program; a quality assurance initiative for the Council's QSA
and ASV Programs; and other future endeavors. Council committee members also
made public responses to many of the hundreds of questions on data security
submitted by organizations from around the world.

The Council's Board of Advisors members (including representatives from
JPMorgan Chase and Co, McDonalds Corporation, Microsoft, Moneris Solutions
Corporation, VeriFone, Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) representing the
merchant, financial institution, processor, and general stakeholder
categories, also led sessions. These prominent stakeholders shared their
perspectives on account data security and their vision for how the community
could work together and what they can achieve moving forward.

"In the one year since the creation of the Council, we have seen a
substantial increase in awareness and adoption of the DSS," said Russo. "It
is our sincere belief that the discussions and outcomes from the PCI
Community Meeting will be another milestone that will drive global awareness
and adoption to new and unprecedented levels."

For More Information:

If you would like more information about the PCI Security Standards
Council or would like to become a Participating Organization please visit
http://pcisecuritystandards.org, or contact the PCI Security Standards
Council at info@pcisecuritystandards.org.

About the PCI Security Standards Council

The mission of the PCI Security Standards Council is to enhance payment
account security by fostering broad adoption of the PCI Data Security
Standard and other standards that increase payment data security.

The PCI Security Standards Council was formed by the major payment card
brands American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB, MasterCard
Worldwide and Visa International to provide a transparent forum in which all
stakeholders can provide input into the ongoing development, enhancement and
dissemination of the Data Security Standard. Merchants, banks, processors and
point of sale vendors are encouraged to join as Participating Organizations.

A 21 member Board of Advisors represents the current roster of more than
275 PCI SSC Participating Organizations and provides critical feedback to the
ongoing enhancement of security standards managed by the Council. Board
members include: APACS, Bank of America, British Airways PLC, Chase
Paymentech Solutions, Citibank N.A., Global Consumer Group, Commonwealth Bank
of Australia, European Payment Council (EPC) AISBL, Exxon Mobil Corporation,
First Data Corporation, Interac Association, JPMorgan Chase and Co, McDonalds
Corporation, Microsoft, Moneris Solutions Corporation, PayPal Inc., The Royal
Bank of Scotland, Servicios Electronicos Globales S.A. De C.V., Tesco Stores
Ltd., TSYS Acquiring Solutions, LLC, VeriFone, Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Contact:
    Text 100 for PCI Security Standards Council
    US +1-212-331-8410 (Eastern U.S.)
    US +1-206-267-2004 (Western U.S.)
    pci@text100.com

Web site: http://pcisecuritystandards.org