10:52 a.m., Oct. 7, 2009----The Society of Payment Security Professionals (SPSP) has announced a partnership with the University of Delaware to provide data security and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) related eLearning to the University's students.

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The SPSP will provide six eLearning modules that will comprise the data security course being offered by the University's Department of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management, which is part of the Lerner College of Business and Economics. Upon completion of the course, students will receive a Certificate in Data Protection.

The SPSP created the following courses that will support the University's program:

• Introduction to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard;
• Data Breach and Forensic Overview;
• Introduction to Data Security;
• Preventing Data Compromise;
• Preventing Payment Card Fraud; and
• Compliance and Card Brand Rules.

The SPSP's founder, Chris Mark, explained the relationship, saying, “The University provides a valuable education on the business and management of the hospitality industry. We are pleased that the University recognized our expertise in payment card security issues and selected our eLearning programs to further their students' education in this vital management concern.”

Cihan Cobanoglu, UD associate professor of hotel, restaurant and institutional management, said he is excited to provide the new offering to his students. “The protection of consumer data is a top of mind issue for hospitality professionals,” he said. “The ability to offer this course, created by the top payment security professionals, allows the University of Delaware to ensure that its students receive the most comprehensive and timely education on data security issues facing our industry available today.”

Dorian J. Cougias, founder and lead analyst of the Unified Compliance Framework, the current chairperson of the UD Department of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management IT Advisory Board, and a fellow participant of the Payment Card Industry's Security Standard's Council, said he is thrilled with the launch of this online program.

“There are training courses, and then there are training courses that are great,” Cougias said. “This joint course has been in the works for quite some time and will provide the best chance for real payment card protection training in the online world. I can't be happier that it will be associated with the University of Delaware. I hope it becomes mandatory for all HRIM practitioners worldwide.”

The course will be available for Winter Session 2010, and students must enroll through the University of Delaware.

About the Society of Payment Security Professionals

The Society of Payment Security Professionals' objective is to provide individuals and organizations involved in payment security with an online community to share information and access education and certification opportunities. Society members come from a variety of businesses including card brands, merchants, acquirers, issuers, ISOs, and more. Though their organizations may vary, they all share one purpose: to protect consumer data using the most current, viable technologies and processes. The Society of Payment Security Professionals is managed by The Aegenis Group, Inc. For more information about the society, visit the Web site.

About the Unified Compliance Framework^TM

The Unified Compliance Framework (UCF) is Network Frontiers' flagship product. By focusing on commonalities across regulations, standards-based development, and simplified architectures, the UCF supports a strategic approach to IT compliance that reduces cost, limits liability, and leverages the value of compliance-related technologies and services across the enterprise. The UCF's content and methodology is the direct result of Network Frontiers deep understanding of IT regulations and standards and decades of experience consulting for clients, publications, and vendors in the mission-critical IT arena. The UCF was created by Dorian Cougias and his research partner, Marcelo Halpern of the international law firm Latham and Watkins, which oversees all legal aspects of the UCF. More information can be found at the Web site.