VikingCloud Teams With Fiserv to Bolster Small Business’s Cyber Defenses

VikingCloud, a cybersecurity and PCI-compliance company, is collaborating with Fiserv Inc. to make Mastercard Inc.’s Compliance and Validation Exemption Program available to small and mid-size businesses.

Announced earlier this year, Mastercard’s C-VEP exempts eligible merchants from complying with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard and validating their PCI-DSS compliance to Mastercard annually. VikingCloud and Fiserv in February announced their partnership to provide cybersecurity solutions to small businesses.

Small merchants are increasingly becoming a target for cybercriminals, as they are typically not prepared to defend themselves against the increasing sophistication of cyberattacks, VikingCloud says. A recent report by VikingCloud on the preparedness of these businesses to defend against cyberattacks reveals that just 29% of respondents rate their cyber defenses “mature enough to protect against the most common online threats – ransomware, malware, credential theft, business impersonation, and fraud,” VikingCloud says. In addition, recent research by Mastercard reveals that one in five small businesses that suffered a successful cyberattack filed for bankruptcy or closed their business afterward.

“C-VEP powers the next generation of merchant protection, designed for today’s transformed payment and online risk landscape,” VikingCloud chief executive Mark Brady says in a statement. “This collaboration is the first step in bringing C-VEP to merchants, expanding protections from static customer card data to dynamic cybersecurity defense, safeguarding a business’s operations, reputation, and revenue.”

The only Mastercard Preferred C-VEP provider, Chicago-based VikingCloud began working with Mastercard in February to design and develop cybersecurity solutions for small businesses through Mastercard’s RiskRecon platform. A software-as-a-service based platform, RiskRecon addresses cybersecurity vulnerabilities.