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VISA Unveils New PA-DSS Guide |
Visa has unveiled a set of security best practices for vendors of payment applications and for the systems integrators and resellers responsible for implementing and managing them.
The guidelines are designed to address continuing vulnerabilities in the payment chain stemming from insecure implementations of the applications that are used in credit and debit card transactions, according to Eduardo Perez, Visa's head of global payment system security.
The existing Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS) administered by the PCI Security Council , already requires developers of payment applications to implement specific security controls in their software. But Visa said several vulnerabilities continue to persist because of improper configurations and other implementation errors. Visa's guidelines were developed in collaboration with the SANS Institute, a Bethesda, Md.-based security training and certification organization. The best practices touch upon 10 different issues and include a mix of technology and process-related advice.
In the past, several of Visa's best practices and guidelines have ended up being drafted into formal payment industry standard. Even the PA-DSS itself for instance, was originally proposed by Visa as a set of best practices, but eventually became a formal PCI standard.
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ETA Releases Summary of IRS Reporting Rules |
Earlier this week, the Internal Revenue Service released final regulations to implement tax code Section 6050W and related statutory changes enacted by the Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008. The regulations require payment settlement organizations to report payments in settlement of payment card and third-party network transactions annually. The Electronic Transactions Association submitted comments to the IRS earlier this year on the proposed regulations and today has released a summary of how the final regulations address ETA’s concerns.
Read the full summary. |
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Fed Says Consumer Debt Still Falling |
A report issued this week by the New York Federal Reserve Bank says aggregate consumer debt declined again in the second quarter of this year, continuing the trend of the previous six quarters. As of June 30, 2010, total consumer indebtedness was $11.7 trillion, a reduction of $812 billion (6.5%) from its peak level at the close of the third quarter in 2008, and $178 billion (1.5%) below its March 31, 2010 level.
The overall drop in consumer debt was driven by the continuing decline in credit card usage, which shows up as further drops in both credit card debt and the number of active card accounts. Excluding mortgage and HELOC balances, consumer indebtedness fell 1.5% in the quarter and, after having fallen for six consecutive quarters, stands at $2.31 trillion, 8.4% below its 2008 peak. About 272 million credit accounts were closed during the four quarters that ended June 30, while 161 million accounts were opened. However, the number of credit account inquiries within six months – an indicator of consumer credit demand –ticked up for the first time since the third quarter of 2007. Credit cards have been the primary source of the reductions in accounts over the past two years, and during the second quarter of 2010, the number of open credit card accounts fell from 385 to 381 million. The number of open credit card accounts on June 30 was down 23.2% from the 2008 peak, the report said.
Read the full report.
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IRS Releases Final Info Reporting Rules |
The Internal Revenue Service Aug. 13 released final rules (T.D. 9496) relating to information reporting requirements, information reporting penalties, and backup withholding requirements for payment card and third-party network transactions.
IRS said the final regulations implement tax code Section 6050W and related statutory changes enacted by the Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008 (Pub. L. No. 110-289) that require payment settlement organizations to report payments in settlement of payment card and third-party network transactions for each calendar year.
The final regulations provide guidance to assist persons required to report payment card and third-party network transactions and to the payees of those transactions, IRS said.
These regulations are effective Aug. 16, the same day they will be published in the Federal Register. Text of T.D. 9496 is available at http://www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2010-20200_PI.pdf. |
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When the PCI Security Standards Council convenes its annual Community meeting Spetember 21-23 in Orlando, the major topic for discussion will be the new version of the PCI standard, which will be unveiled just prior to the meeting and will take effect in January.
Dubbed PCI 2.0, the latest iteration of the PCI requirements won't add any major new wrinkles, according to the Council, but will address what PCI requires in terms of enterprise-wide security, including new requirements with regard to "scoping." That's the process of locating where sensitive cardholder data resides within a network, and whichlocations are subject to PCI.
The new standards will be made public in September, prior to the Annual Community Meeting and following discussions there, will be released in final form sometime in October, with an effective date of January 1.
ETA's Compliance Day, which covers PCI along with broader aspects of compliance, has been colocated with the PCI meeting to allow participants to take part in both meetings if they choose. Compliance Day is September 21. Details are available here. |
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