AUSTIN, Texas -- Acumera, a leader in Trusted Connection Services for convenience stores, has launched PCI Audit Support to accelerate Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance audits as part of Acumera's PCI Tools solution.
Designed to support ongoing customer security and compliance, Acumera's PCI Tools include automated external vulnerability scans with historical archiving, logging of PCI-related events, dynamically generated site network diagrams and clear identification of non-PCI payment application devices in the cardholder data environment. In addition, Acumera has completed its own PCI DSS compliance assessment and obtained an annual report on compliance (ROC), becoming a fully compliant service provider.
Coalfire, a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) firm, successfully completed the testing and controls validation of Acumera as a network and security service provider. The validation also included testing of controls deployed for merchant implementation. As a result, Acumera's customers can include the Acumera's controls within their own compliance management efforts without further testing and validation.
According to Acumera's chief technology officer Brett Stewart, providing Acumera's Attestation of Compliance (AOC) to customers and making the Acumera ROC available to their Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs) will enable customers to demonstrate compliance in key areas of the assessment and reduce the time and energy required by the audit process.
"One of Acumera's primary goals is to reduce the headaches our customers experience in maintaining their PCI DSS compliance, which is why we went through the process for the perimeter security services we provide," said Stewart. "Armed with our PCI documentation, Acumera customers' QSAs will be able to accept Acumera's compliance in several certain specific areas. While no third-party solution can ensure 100% compliance, we believe our approach sets a new, more effective and efficient roadmap to achieving PCI DSS compliance."
Alon Brands Retail, which operates nearly 300 convenience stores in Texas and New Mexico, was one of the first customers to evaluate Acumera's PCI Audit Support.
"Acumera has been a reliable and trustworthy partner of Alon for several years," said Amir Wurzel, vice president and chief information officer of Alon Brands. "With the unique combination of Acumera's helpful PCI Tools and the recent service provider ROC, which clearly defines the scope of the services, we expect to reduce our annual PCI audit costs and, most importantly, to reinforce our data security controls."
The company provides PCI Audit Support to Acumera PCI Tools customers at no additional charge. Acumera provides Trusted Connection Services to multi-site merchants, specializing in the reduction of problems caused by network management and security issues. Acumera actively manages client networks and provides visibility and remote management capability. It gets customers' stores, network clients and devices securely connected and keeps them connected. In addition to network status, merchants have real-time insight into key operational measures, such as fuel inventory levels and environmental and food safety temperatures.
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