Equator

About the customer

Equator, headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, is a digital communications company that helps organisations communicate more effectively, innovate at speed, and accelerate sales. Alongside delivering advanced communication solutions, Equator ensures its clients achieve and maintain key industry certifications - including the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). These clients rely on Equator to empower them to process payment card data in a way that is secure, compliant and protects their customer's data when making purchases, payments, and online transactions.

The challenge

As cyber threats continue to evolve in scale and sophistication, Equator needed to guarantee that every application and service they deliver adheres to stringent PCI DSS requirements. At the same time, the business was navigating a broader transformation of its service offering, making it crucial to pinpoint any gaps in their existing compliance controls. 

PCI DSS provides a comprehensive security framework for handling, storing, and transmitting payment card data - a vital safeguard against fraud, data breaches, and unauthorised access. With a reputation for best-in-class service, Equator sought expert guidance to review, strengthen, and future-proof their PCI DSS compliance. Their goal was not simply to meet the standard, but to exceed it and reinforce the security and trust their clients depend on. 

The solution

We worked closely with Equator to deliver a fully end-to-end strategy to ensure PCI DSS compliance, including: 

• A comprehensive Cardholder Data Environment (CDE) audit
• Penetration testing to uncover and remediate vulnerabilities
• Strategic alignment of security controls with business objectives
• Ongoing protection and consultancy to stay ahead of cyber threats

Our Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs) partnered with Equator  to map requirements, close compliance gaps, and ensure their clients' environments fully aligned with PCI DSS standards. 

"We've partnered with Wavenet on our client PCI DSS applications for several years now. Their ability to help us identify critical gaps during a period of major transition to PCI DSS v4.0 has been invaluable. We lean on their expertise to ensure we're consistently delivering the highest standard of service to our clients. Their knowledge and expertise are second-to-none." 

Grant Dickson - Head of Compliance, Equator

The results

Equator now benefits from: 

• A clear, structured path to achieving and exceeding PCI DSS compliance.
• Their applications and services are benchmarked against industry best practice for securing payment card data. 
• They enjoy complete peace of mind knowing they are offering clients secure, compliant, and resilient solutions.
• They can rely on the depth of our expertise and the confidence it provides across their client base and within the broader payment ecosystem. 

"We really value the support in ensuring we remain fully compliant. Knowing every requirement is covered gives us real confidence that our clients' environments are protected."

Grant Dickson - Head of Compliance, Equator

If you’d like to find out more about how we could help your business with the areas covered in this case study, then get in touch at enquiries@wavenet.co.uk.