‍CCS Advantage to boost PCI Compliance program value with automated monitoring and mitigating of cybersecurity risk for payment processor, acquirer, and ISO merchant portfolios  

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‍Chicago, IL and Dublin, Ireland – February 7, 2024 – VikingCloud, the leading predict-to-prevent cybersecurity and compliance company, today announced CCS Advantage, a first-of-its-kind self-service Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance and cybersecurity program for Level 4 (L4) businesses. CCS Advantage integrates VikingCloud’s new Cyber Risk Score and proprietary threat scanning technology into its global PCI DSS compliance process.  VikingCloud’s Cyber Risk Score is a patent-pending innovation for automated cybersecurity risk assessments and remediation recommendations based on VikingCloud’s unique cybersecurity and PCI compliance dataset. The company currently has 28 granted patents.

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"Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are the number one target of all data breaches – and are often too small to hire cybersecurity talent to help them navigate increasingly complex online threats,” said Kevin Pierce, Chief Product Officer at VikingCloud. “CCS Advantage is designed to give the most vulnerable businesses tools to easily understand their cyber risk as part of the PCI DSS compliance process – no technical skills or internal resources required.”

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CCS Advantage’s high-tech, low-touch cyber defense means SMBs can focus on growing their business, while VikingCloud focuses on their business continuity, resiliency, and compliance requirements with:

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• Proven, scalable, global PCI DSS compliance programs – v4.0 ready: VikingCloud is the partner of choice for the largest global acquirers, payment processors, and ISOs –supporting more than 4 million businesses in 70 countries. VikingCloud has had Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) and Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV) accreditation by the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) since its launch nearly 20 years ago.
• Patent-pending VikingCloud Cyber Risk Score: VikingCloud’s patented and proprietary cybersecurity scanning solutions and payment card compliance data will be used to automatically check merchant risk status in five key categories, including Website Security, External Network Security, Internal Network Security, PCI Compliance Gaps, and Current Cybersecurity Tool Usage. Vulnerabilities will be identified, rated, and combined to create a single customer-specific score on an A-F grade scale, providing an easy-to-understand indicator of potential cybersecurity risk.  
• Patent-Pending persona-based recommendations: Businesses with identified cyber risk will automatically receive risk reduction recommendations based on their unique online and PCI compliance security environments. VikingCloud’s Cyber Risk Score report will customize the level of detail, complexity, and vocabulary used in its recommended actions using recently filed patent-pending models designed to accurately identify the level of customer cybersecurity expertise. 

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“We know that over 70% of small businesses rely on a website to grow their business - and most are unprepared to protect themselves from cybercriminals. That’s an ever-present risk for their bottom line – and for their payment processor, acquirer, or ISO,” said Jim Burke, CEO at VikingCloud. “Protecting cardholder data and keeping business uninterrupted from cyber threats can no longer be a ‘point-in-time’ effort. CCS Advantage brings PCI Compliance and cybersecurity together, providing our most at-risk merchants with the insights and tools they need for ‘always-on’ cyber defense.”  

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CCS Advantage and the VikingCloud Cyber Risk Score are expected to be accessible globally to VikingCloud partners and customers in late Q2 2024.

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Click here to learn more about VikingCloud.