ePLDT, the industry-leading enabler of digital enterprise solutions in the Philippines, announced that its premiere VITRO Data Center in Makati City recently received the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) Version 3.2 certification, an international accreditation given to merchants and service providers who passed the security standards set by the PCI Security Standards Council in protecting cardholder data.
PCI-DSS, the global data security standard created by a consortium of international credit card companies, applies to all entities that store, process, and/or transmit cardholder data, covering technical and operational system components included in or connected to sensitive cardholder information.
Compliance with the PCI-DSS alleviates the vulnerabilities that come with the whole card-processing ecosystem which includes point-of-sale devices, wireless hotspots, transmission of cardholder data to service providers, personal computers or servers, and systems operated by service providers and acquirers that maintain relationships with merchants that accept payment cards.
“The booming e-commerce market is fueling credit card transactions all around the world, which, at the same time, exposes risks to cardholders, banking institutions and enterprises involved in the process. Given that today’s cyber criminals are more intelligent and more sophisticated, traditional perimeter-based cyber security protocols are not enough to protect the business,” said Nerisse Ramos, ePLDT Chief Operating Officer.
She continued, “Our new certification only proves that customers can be confident in hosting their critical applications in our data center in Makati without worrying about credit card fraud and other online threats that evolve by the day.”
VITRO Makati is the second ePLDT data center to receive the PCI-DSS version 3.2 certification. Last year, VITRO Pasig was certified for version 3.1 and was recently upgraded to 3.2. The two data centers were assessed and certified based on the international standard’s established guidelines on physical space, data storage and security profiles.
The largest data center facility in the country to date, VITRO Makati has a maximum capacity of 3, 584 racks sitting on a nearly two-hectare property. It is the first data center to be awarded with the ANSI/TIA-942 Rated 3 Design Certificate, which emphasizes the redundancy design of the data centers to ensure the highest availability during unplanned maintenance and infrastructure expansion.
Furthermore, VITRO Makati is recognized by NTT Communications as Nexcenter-compliant for adopting its data center design practices and management experience. This allows clients to experience the same international standards applied on all 140 Nexcenter facilities in 84 cities of 19 countries.
VITRO Makati is operated and maintained by professionals who are guided by ISO standards such as Quality Management System (ISO 9001:2008), Business Continuity Management System (ISO 22301:2013), Information Security Management System (27001:2013), IT Services Management System (20000-1:2011), and Environmental Management System (14001:2004).
“VITRO Makati is strongly positioned to be the first financial data center in the country given its certifications, design standards, proximity to the business district and robust infrastructure,” said Jovy Hernandez, Senior Vice President and Head of PLDT Enterprise. “With the PCI-DSS certification in place, we can enable a stronger and more secure foundation for the digital enterprise in ensuring their continuous success now and in the future.”
To learn more about ePLDT and its VITRO network of data centers, please visit the website at www.epldt.com.