PCI Dubai May 2011

Like all of the PCI series events run by AKJ Associates, it was well planned to offer a balanced mix of plenary session and educational activities that delivered a broad variety of content for PCI Compliance. All delegates that we had the opportunity of speaking with said they found the event informative and helpful towards their PCI Compliance programs. The catering of the event also deserved a special mention.

Attending the event was a broad variety of financial institutions, airlines, insurers, multi-national conglomerates and many well-known brands from across the Middle East including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Saudi and other major cities from the region.=

As the event’s principle sponsor, Ground Labs offered presentations in various forums throughout the day on topics related to cardholder data discovery for PCI compliance. The presentations explored various factors that often hinder PCI compliance efforts including user behaviour, system administrator bad habits, and assumptions from management on handling practices traditional auditing techniques that were previously relied upon by QSAs.

Also highlighted was the strong need to ensure PCI compliance scoping is approached correctly from the very beginning. Once compliance is achieved the intensity and focus must not stop – it is critical to implement a long term plan to monitor and maintain compliance. All too often we see and hear about organisations who achieve PCI compliance and then allow their compliance programme come to a halt with few resources committed to the ongoing upkeep of compliance.

In summary, this was once again a fantastic event that offers great support for organisations interested in PCI Compliance within the Middle East Region. The next event in this region is scheduled to occur in Abu Dhabi on the 28th of November 2011.