The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) has released a new resource for achieving PCI DSS Compliance.  This new resource is referred to as the Prioritized Approach and it is intended to provide best practices that will help merchants identify and reduce risk to sensitive data.

The tool groups together the requirements of PCI DSS v1.2 into six key milestones for merchants to consider in achieving their PCI DSS compliance. It also offers guidance on how to focus PCI DSS implementation efforts in a way that expedites the security of cardholder data. 

Additional benefits of the Prioritized Approach are:

• An increased awareness of cardholder data security
• Assistance for businesses to identify highest risk targets
• The creation of a common language around PCI DSS implementation efforts
• Enabling merchants to demonstrate progress on compliance process

For additional information on Prioritized Approach, please visit:http://www.vantagecard.com/resources/PCI_Data_Security.html