Retailer sues visa over data breach.

• Position: DATA SECURITY - Genesco Inc. - Brief article

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The Payment Card Industry's Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) are being put to the test in a suit filed in early March by specialty sports apparel retailer Genesco against Visa. Genesco is seeking nearly $13.3 million in fines that Visa assessed following a breach of Genesco's systems that may have resulted in fraudulent transactions.

According to Wired magazine, this is the first known case challenging the PCI DSS. The regulations require merchants that handle credit and debit card data to follow certain security practices or face fines from the credit card industry. Visa fined Genesco $13.3 million for noncompliance to the PCI standards after Genesco announced it had been hacked back in 2010.

In the filing, Genesco states that although it found packet-sniffing software on its network at that time, there was no forensic evidence of any card data having been stolen. Genesco alleges it was never out of compliance with PCI DSS regulations and, therefore, should not have been fined.

The PCI standards state that merchants are not to store card data...