San Francisco, CA - February 17, 2010 - Certain Software, Inc., the leading provider of event management solutions for the global meetings and events planning industry, is proud to announce that it has once again successfully passed the annual onsite audit for PCI Service Provider Level 1 compliance. PCI Service Provider Level 1 is the highest level of compliance for securely collecting credit card payments over the internet, intended for companies with the capacity to handle the most massive online credit card transaction volume. To prove compliance, companies must undergo an extensive, on-site Annual Security Audit performed by a PCI approved Quality Security Assessor. Each quarter, Level 1 Service Providers must have compliance verified through Quarterly Vulnerability Assessment Scans performed by a PCI Approved Scanning Vendor. Certain joins an elite group of companies worldwide to successfully complete such audit. Certain Software’s customers, as PCI Merchants, are assured the greatest security and ease of meeting their own compliance requirements.

Certain Software was a pioneer in driving the adoption of the highest level of privacy and security throughout the online registration process. Since 2004, Certain has been Visa Cardholder Information Security Program (Visa CISP) compliant, which eventually became the template for the Payment Card Industry standard. “Security and Privacy are critical issues for our customers and our business,” says Jonathan Dodson, CIO of Certain Software. “Achieving PCI Level 1 compliance means that we have chosen to comply and be audited against one of the highest international security and privacy standards.” Certain was audited by the Payment Security Company (PSC). The PSC auditors visited the company, analyzed the IT infrastructure, interviewed staff, and reviewed internal processes around security and confidentiality. In addition, a series of penetration tests were performed on the company network and web infrastructure.

As a meeting planner, choosing an audited PCI compliant vendor is crucial to success. Not only are there various penalties associated with using a non-PCI compliant vendor, but gateway access can also be terminated by Credit Card companies if the payment gateway isn’t compliant. The most important aspect of using a PCI compliant vendor though, is providing a safeguard for customer data. “The best reason to choose a PCI compliant vendor is to protect your event registrants,” says Dodson. “If customer identity and business references are important to you than you must protect them at all costs.”

“Achieving level one PCI compliance has been an extremely high priority for us these past few months,” explains Certain’s CEO Peter Micciche. “As the leader in Event Management solutions globally, it is crucial to set the highest standard for our privacy and security initiatives. Our customers rely on us to handle private information securely, and we want the highest degree of protection available against fraud. We continually invest in our data centers, infrastructure, and people.”

To read more about Certain’s security and compliance initiatives, visit: http://www.certain.com/security_privacy

To see a real-time list of PCI Level 1 compliant vendors visit:

• http://usa.visa.com/merchants/risk_management/cisp_service_providers.html
• http://www.mastercard.com/us/sdp/serviceproviders/compliant_serviceprovider.html