PCI SSC Increases In-market Footprint as Data Security Threat Increases in India
DELHI, India, 30 January 2019 — The PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) today announced it will host its first ever data security industry event in India, the 2019 India Forum, at the Hyatt Regency Delhi on 13 March. As part of this event, PCI SSC will also be conducting training for data security professionals to become Internal Security Assessors (ISA) or Qualified Security Assessors (QSA) in Delhi on 7-8 and 11-12 March 2019.
The inaugural forum is the latest of several initiatives by PCI SSC to increase awareness and adoption of PCI Security Standards for payment security in India, which, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has more than 1.2 billion debit and nearly 150 million credit cards in circulation. Nitin Bhatnagar, PCI SSC’s representative in India, will host the event. Bhatnagar was appointed the Associate Director for India in October 2018 to be an in-country representative to support local organizations in their understanding and implementation of PCI Security Standards.
“Digital payments have become an increasingly popular method of payment in India. While this creates enormous opportunities for businesses across several sectors, it also means that India is an increasingly attractive target for cybercriminals and security of cardholder data must be a top priority. We are bringing together expertise from across the industry to address the biggest challenges facing data security in India and to help businesses in this market protect their customers’ payment data,” Bhatnagar said.
The India Forum will bring together representatives from regional businesses, industry groups and government to discuss payment security challenges and solutions for organizations in India and globally. It will provide a venue for Indian organizations involved in PCI SSC to share their experiences and insights and highlight opportunities for regional companies to participate in the development of PCI Security Standards and programs in 2019.
Confirmed industry speakers include representatives from ReBIT (Reserve Bank Information Technology Private Limited), a Reserve Bank of India initiative to improve the cyber resilience of the Indian banking industry; payment security and forensics firm SISA Information Security; and HDFC Bank. “Payment data security for banking and financial institutions has become a priority considering the way the digital payment wave has picked up in the past few years, making it a desirable target for cybercriminals, and so effective implementation of data security standards is needed. HDFC Bank is glad to participate in the PCI SSC India Forum and share views on the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) journey,” said Sameer Ratolikar, Executive Vice President and CISO at HDFC Bank.
Lance J. Johnson, PCI SSC Executive Director, who will deliver a keynote speech at the India Forum, added, “We are excited to be here and to bring the first ever event to India. This is an important part of our efforts to create awareness and foster greater participation from Indian organizations in the work we are doing globally to improve payment security.”
Attendance to the India Forum is open to anyone involved in the payment ecosystem, and registration is complimentary. For more information and to register, visit: https://events.pcisecuritystandards.org/new- delhi-2019/.
About the PCI Security Standards Council
The PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) leads a global, cross-industry effort to increase payment security by providing industry-driven, flexible and effective data security standards and programs that help businesses detect, mitigate and prevent cyberattacks and breaches. Connect with the PCI SSC on LinkedIn. Join the conversation on Twitter @PCISSC. Subscribe to the PCI Perspectives Blog.
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