Deutsche Telekom Chooses Verizon Business to Help Ensure Security Compliance

Verizon Business Security Solutions Help Ensure T-Pay, Deutsche Telekom’s Online Payment System, Meets PCI-DSS Certification Standards

FRANKFURT – Deutsche Telekom AG has entrusted Verizon Business to help ensure that T-Pay, Deutsche Telekom’s online-payment system, achieves compliance with the international payment card industry data-security standards.

T-Pay is the Internet payment system for all Deutsche Telekom subsidiaries in Germany, including T-Mobile and T-Home. The system processes daily a large amount of confidential financial data, particularly linked to consumer purchases such as music, software, games or video on demand. As such, compliance with the global Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS), which is designed to protect credit card data from misuse, is business-critical.

Verizon Business’ professional security services team is providing a range of consultancy, audit, management and implementation services to help T-Pay achieve PCI-DSS certification.

“We deal with thousands of credit card purchases and online transactions every week, and so the security of our customers’ financial data is our first priority - and intrinsically linked to our own reputation,” said Karl-Heinz Link, technical product manager for the T-Pay service. “Of course, we do everything we can to protect our customers’ confidential information, and PCI-DSS compliance is just one piece of this process. The Verizon Business team has the experience and expertise we require to not only formally assess our systems, infrastructure and applications to meet this important certification, but also to ensure we are constantly working to improve our overall data security.”

The “2009 Verizon Business Data Breach Investigations Report,” based on data analyzed from Verizon Business’ actual caseload, reaffirmed the importance of PCI compliance for any business that handles confidential financial data. The research was based on data analyzed from Verizon Business’ actual caseload comprising 285 million compromised records from 90 confirmed breaches. The study found that a staggering 81 percent of affected organizations subject to PCI-DSS were noncompliant prior to being breached.

Ciske van Oosten, practice lead for PCI security services, Verizon Business EMEA, said: “We are living in an age where online transactions are the norm, and noncompliance with standards such as PCI-DSS clearly places cardholder information at risk. Verizon Business is able to offer companies such as Deutsche Telekom a holistic approach to PCI-DSS compliance, combining consulting and technical support with implementation and service capabilities. We have a strong track record and proven experience in this space, and are pleased to bring our experience to bear in support of the T-Pay system.”

The PCI-DSS initiative was established in 2004 to combat credit card misuse and fraud, and compliance is now obligatory for all global companies that collect, process or store credit card data. E-commerce companies, traders and service providers undergo a quarterly audit of their IT Infrastructure by an external auditor; noncompliance results in high fines and greater business-transaction fees.

About Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom AG is one of the world’s leading telecommunications and information technology service companies. It offers its customers all kinds of products and services for connected life and work. Deutsche Telekom focuses on major technical and social trends and plays a key role in shaping them: the increasing digitization of many spheres of life, the personalization of products and services, growing mobilization and internationalization. Deutsche Telekom stays abreast of the growing convergence of technologies with an increasingly integrated product portfolio, where personal data such as music, videos and addresses can be accessed through any and all terminal equipment.

The aim is to become the most highly regarded service company in the industry. That means product offers and services tailored to the customers’ needs, top network quality - and vastly improved efficiency. Deutsche Telekom provides network access, communications services and value-added services with ever increasing bandwidth via the fixed and mobile networks. The Group supports personal and social networking using innovative products and services.

About Verizon Business
Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), is a global leader in communications and IT solutions. We combine professional expertise with the world’s most connected IP network to deliver award-winning communications, IT, information security and network solutions. We securely connect today’s extended enterprises of widespread and mobile customers, partners, suppliers and employees - enabling them to increase productivity and efficiency and help preserve the environment. Many of the world’s largest businesses and governments - including 96 percent of the Fortune 1000 and thousands of government agencies and educational institutions - rely on our professional and managed services and network technologies to accelerate their business. Find out more at www.verizonbusiness.com.