Batelco has announced the attainment of the ‘Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard’ (PCI DSS) 3.2.1’ compliance, which is the latest international certification in data security, for its three Data Centers. Batelco’s PCI compliance was audited against the PCI Data Security Standards by ValueMentor, a leading provider of risk and compliance services.

PCI DSS is an established information security standard which applies to any organization involved in the processing, transmission, and storage of credit card information. The security standards were formed in 2004 by Visa, MasterCard, Discover Financial Services, JCB International and American Express. The compliance scheme aims to secure credit and debit card transactions against data theft and fraud.

Companies that store, process, or transmit credit card data, specifically the Banking and Finance sector, are mandated by global and national industry regulators to comply to the international security standard to ensure maximum levels of security. Therefore, PCI-compliant Data Centers are a key factor for organisations in selecting co-location facilities.
Batelco’s Data Center PCI DSS compliance ensures that its customers directly benefit from automatic compliance to regulatory data security requirements such as strict physical access procedures for data, regular testing of security systems and processes, and adherence to policies that address information security.

Commenting on the achievement, Mr. David Joseph, AVP – Payment security at ValueMentor, said “We have successfully worked with multiple similar security programmes within the region, and we are glad to have Batelco Data Centers join the family of compliant centers. Batelco was keen to continue with implementing comprehensive and strict information security controls and thereby meet standards beyond compliance requirement. We are delighted to conclude that Batelco sets security of its customers’ payment data as a top priority and complies to the PCI DSS version 3.2.1 requirements.”

Batelco A/General Manager Enterprise Abdulla Danesh commented, “Attainment of the PCI DSS compliance is a key step in our strategy of building and managing world class Data Centers. We are committed to our customers in prioritizing their requirements by providing a reliable and highly secure data storage environment, well equipped to protect sensitive customer data against breaches.”

“We will continue to optimize our physical and cloud security with the most up-to-date international security standards, to support our customers’ interests and business,” Mr. Danesh concluded.