eMazzanti Technologies Doubles PCI QIR Staff to Strengthen Retail Data Security

eMazzanti technicians achieve QIR qualifications, offer international coverage and language support to help merchants fortify retail data security and meet PCI compliance standards worldwide Hoboken, NJ ­- (Cision) February 14, 2019 – eMazzanti Technologies, a New York City area retail technology consultant and managed services provider, today announced that it has doubled the number of its staff who have completed high-level retail data security training to prevent retail point-of-sale (POS) data theft. eMazzanti is the sixth company worldwide to be qualified as a PCI Qualified Integrator under the stringent certification standards of the PCI Security Standards Council Qualified Integrators and Resellers (QIR) program. It now has four QIR trained and qualified retail data security experts on staff. The firm is also one of only nine firms to provide services in all the PCI regions: North America, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), Asia, Europe and Central Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA). The company’s multi-lingual capabilities are also impressive. In addition to English, the firm is the only company offering QIR services in Albanian and Sinhala, one of only two providing services in Greek and Italian, and one of 14 offering services in French and 56 in Spanish. “Doubling the number staff with the QIR qualification demonstrates eMazzanti’s commitment to combat POS payment security breaches with best-in-the-world training and service delivery excellence,” stated Jennifer Mazzanti, CEO, eMazzanti Technologies. “eMazzanti’s program of continuous technology education places our employees among the best trained POS technicians available.”

QIR Retail Data Security Program

A Qualified Integrator and Reseller (QIR) is an organization authorized by the PCI Security Standards Council to “implement, configure and/or support” PA-DSS payment applications. The PCI Council lists all QIRs on its website and the number of companies that are QIR certified has grown to about 500. In the wake of numerous merchant POS data breaches, the QIR program was launched in late 2012 to strengthen point-of-sale security. Stephen W Orfei, General Manager of the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council, said the QIR Program takes aim at one of the most vulnerable security points in the payments chain, the point of sale. To earn the QIR qualification, eMazzanti Technologies employees received specialized training on the secure installation and maintenance of validated payment applications into merchant environments with an emphasis on supporting client’s PCI DSS compliance efforts. Successful completion of the training and testing at a certified testing center earned eMazzanti a place on the PCI SSC global list of QIR Companies. “The QIR qualification means that businesses can be confident in eMazzanti’s PCI compliance services,” said Mazzanti. “POS solutions should be installed, configured, and managed by trained technicians to properly support PCI DSS.”

Breaches When PCI Data Security Standards Not Followed

VISA recently reported that 80% of small-business data breaches occur in connection with implementation services or other servicing by point-of-sale (POS) integrators and resellers that do not meet PCI data security standards. To reduce that number, VISA issued a QIR mandate affecting merchant acquirers and Level 4 merchants the company serves. The payment card company now requires its merchant acquirers to verify that all Level 4 merchants acquired since April 1, 2016 are using QIR providers for POS application and terminal installation and servicing. Regardless of merchant level, retailers should be prepared to answer Yes to the following question in the PCI DSS v3.2 Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ): “Does your company use a Qualified Integrator & Reseller?” Merchants can search for the organization(s) responsible for integrating and/or servicing their POS systems on the PCI Qualified Integrators and Resellers List. If their provider is not on the list, eMazzanti advises them to seek out a validated QIR organization to perform those services.

PCI Participating Organization

In 2015, eMazzanti Technologies joined the PCI Security Standards Council as a Participating Organization. The IT consulting firm works with the Council to improve payment data security worldwide through the ongoing development of the PCI Security Standards. eMazzanti has participated at the PCI SSC U.S. Events each year since 2014. Download Release PDF