Windstream Data Centers PCI DSS-Compliant

By Daniel Santa Cruz

Windstream Hosted Solutions’ cloud and hosting data centers are now compliant with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards (DSS) version 2.0. As a “Level 1” certified service provider, Windstream is fully compliant with the PCI DSS standard.

PCI DSS is a set of standards that requires all merchants and service providers that store, process or transmit customer payment card data to abide by information security controls and processes. The standards, meant to prevent credit card fraud, include 12 requirements that encompass security management, policies and procedures, physical security, network architecture, user access management, network and systems monitoring, and software development.

“As businesses continue to store, process and transmit credit card information in data centers, we must work to minimize the risk of security breaches that impact customers while also putting businesses at risk of critical data loss and monetary liability,” said Chris Nicolini, Windstream’s senior vice president of data center operations.

In order to maintain its certification, Windstream will scan for network threats and conduct annual audits.