Press Office

Back to Press Office

Sydney, 11 July 2007 - MasterCard Worldwide will help selected merchants across Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa (APMEA) to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) by contracting AmbironTrustWave Pte Ltd., a subsidiary of AmbironTrustWave, to offer free, comprehensive compliance validation services. In accordance with the MasterCard Site Data Protection (SDP) program, all merchants that accept cards for payments are required to comply with PCI DSS.

The services provided by AmbironTrustWave include:

• Online self-assessment for merchants through an on-line security questionnaire and a vulnerability scan of up to six internet-facing Internet Protocol ("IP") addresses
• Access to the Self-Assessment Questionnaire;
• Additional three quarterly vulnerability scans for up to six IP addresses;
• Up to four directed vulnerability scans for merchants at their request;
• An annual self-assessment compliance report for the Merchant, available on-line through AmbironTrustWave's secure web-based compliance management portal, TrustKeeper, which shall include:
  • Scoring of the on-line security questionnaire;
  • Assessment of compliance with the SDP Program;
  • Remediation guidance to achieve compliance with the SDP Program.
• Help Desk Technical Support as well as 24 x 7 Emergency Response Support for merchants.

By participating, merchants will have the tools to enable them to meet their obligations for validation under the MasterCard SDP program. This offer is available in English and Chinese (Simplified and Traditional). It will also be available in Arabic, German, Japanese, Korean and Portuguese later this year. Merchants will receive a notice from their Acquiring Banks informing them of the offer and details on how to contact AmbironTrustWave Pte Ltd. to participate in this program.

Barry Wong, senior business leader & regional head, Security & Risk Services, Asia/Pacific, MasterCard Worldwide, says, "Protecting cardholder information has always been at the core of MasterCard's business. Every party that handles payment card information has an obligation to comply with PCI DSS. This promotional offer with AmbironTrustWave simplifies the compliance validation process for merchants and strengthens data security across the payment chain. I urge merchants to take advantage of this offering."

PCI DSS version 1.1 was released by the PCI Security Standards Council (SSC) upon its formation in September 2006. This standard represents a unified set of data security requirements recognized by all founding members of the council.

"MasterCard Worldwide continues to demonstrate leadership by offering merchants throughout the world the latest tools to secure the credit card information they store, process and/or transmit," said Robert J. McCullen, chairman and CEO of AmbironTrustWave. "MasterCard is a leader in the payment industry and one of the world's premier brands, and we are honored to have the opportunity to work with them to further ensure the integrity of the payment system."

Merchants who wish to test their compliance may enroll at https://mastercardasiapacific.trustkeeper.net, click on "Register Now", complete the online questionnaire and schedule a vulnerability scan of their network. Merchants will then be presented with a report that shows the results of the questionnaire and scan, along with recommendations on how to fix problems identified by the scan.

###

MasterCard Worldwide advances global commerce by providing a critical economic link among financial institutions, businesses, cardholders and merchants worldwide. As a franchisor, processor and advisor, MasterCard develops and markets payment solutions, processes over 16 billion transactions each year, and provides industry-leading analysis and consulting services to financial institution customers and merchants. Through its family of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro® and Cirrus®, MasterCard Worldwide serves consumers and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information go to www.mastercard.com.

Singapore-based AmbironTrustWave Pte Ltd. is the Asia-Pacific division of AmbironTrustWave, a global provider of information security and compliance management solutions to businesses and the public sector. The company has serviced more than 30,000 organizations throughout the world including banks, merchants, service providers and software developers that are required to validate compliance with industry best practices for safeguarding information endorsed by American Express, Discover, MasterCard Worldwide, Visa International and Visa USA. AmbironTrustWave is headquartered in Chicago with offices throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia.

Michael Petitti, AmbironTrustWave, mpetitti@atwcorp.com, +1 (312) 873 7291
Melissa Devine, 02 9818 0950, mdevine@ppr.com.au