Back to Current Fortrex Announcements

December 2006          Fortrex to Celebrate 10 Years in Business
2007 is an exciting year for Fortrex as it will celebrate 10 years in business. Over 500 customers served in various industry vertical markets ranging from $1M to $47B in revenue. Clients from the west coast to east coast as well as Latin America and the Caribbean. "The most compelling reason for our success has been our people, they are loyal, hard working and most importantly they all have great character", says Chris Konrad SVP Client Services, a Fortrex employee since 1998. "We are growing revenues with new clients and business partners and we have an incredibly high percentage rate of return buyers", says Joshua Lyons Director of Client Services, Sales a Fortrex employee since 2000. The outlook for 2007 and beyond looks very strong supported by a backlog of orders, a strong partnership with PCI-SSC and renewed alliances with technology partners.

December 2006        Director of Client Services, Consulting Scott Sweren to speak at the 2007 IRCE
Scott Sweren the Director of Client Services, Consulting practice at Fortrex Technologies will be a co-instructor at the 2007 Internet Retailer Conference held June 4-7 in San Jose California. Scott will be instructing a session on Complying with the New Card Company Security Rules. This workshop will lay out in detail the credit card company mandates for securing online payment data and explain what e-retailers must do to meet the mandates and the penalties for not doing so. It will help retailers identify potential vulnerabilities in their systems and web sites and how to fix them. It also will address the specific questions that retailers should ask payment processors to make sure their processors are in compliance with security rules. Our speakers all have real-world experience in implementing the standards. Scott Sweren and Dave Glaser have worked with hundreds of retailers on the standards. Our retailer speaker will detail exactly what his company had to do to comply with the standards and what he learned in dealing with the card companies. Information about the event can be found at
http://www.internetretailer.com/IR2007/workshops.asp.

December 2006        Fortrex Joins the Qualys PCI On Demand Program
Fortrex has been accepted into the Qualys PCI On Demand Program. This program is a global PCI compliance solution delivered through select partners around the world. Qualys partners bring localized knowledge and solutions, complementary services and support to meet PCI compliance needs.

November 2006          Fortrex Honored With Flag Citation On September 11, 2006
An American flag was flown over the Naval Special Warfare Task Group in Fallujah Iraq for Fortrex Technologies in memory of September 11, 2001. It represents the Honor, Courage and Commitment of the men and women of the Naval Special Warfare Squadron Three during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

September 2006          PCI Data Security Standard Summary of Changes
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (DSS) v 1.1 has replaced the DSS v. January 2005, and the PCI Security Standards Council will no longer recognize DSS v. 2005 after December 31, 2006. This Summary of Changes document provides an overview of the significant differences between the two versions. Click here.

September 2006          PCI SSC Officially Launched
The PCI Security Standard Council ("PCI SSC" and previously referred to as PCI-Co) officially launched yesterday, September 7, 2006. The new standards body, supported by Visa, MasterCard International, American Express, JCB and Discover, will govern the PCI Data Security Standard and all related documents and requirements. For more information please click here.

August 2006          Fortrex Business Continues to Grow Strong
With an unprecedented number of new contracts and very solid pipeline, Fortrex is looking to expand its professional services team. "We are in need of Senior Consultants as well as Senior Engineers to fill the ever-increasing demand for our security services," says Chris Konrad SVP of Client Services. "I have been with Fortrex for eight years, and I have never seen the demand so high. I attribute this to our solid reputation and especially to referrals from happy customers."

July 2006          Fortrex in the News: eWeek's The Channel Insider
Chris Konrad SVP of Client Services was interviewed by Pedro Pereira of eWeek's The Channel Insider for an article on Managed Security Vendor ScanSafe. Click here to read it.

June 2006          Fortrex Releases PCI White Paper
Fortrex has released a white paper that identifies ways of using new technologies as a mitigating control for PCI-DSS compliance and to solve the issue of limiting the scope of an audit, and encrypting user names and passwords in transmission without the need to modify or rewrite applications. To obtain a copy, please e-mail info@fortrex.com.

June 2006          Fortrex Technical Services Project Manager Called To Duty
Mr. Samuel Hinson, the Fortrex Technical Services Project Manager, is also a Chief for the US Naval Reserve and has been called back to active duty for one year. Sam will be headed to Iraq to support a Joint Military Operation. On behalf of everyone at Fortrex Technologies, we wish Sam Hinson God's speed and a safe return home from Iraq.

Chief Petty Officer Samuel P. Hinson

May 2006          Fortrex Technical Services Project Manager Scores The Highest!
Sam Hinson, QDSP,  the Fortrex Technical Services Project Manager, recently scored the highest mark on the May 2006 Visa Qualified Payment Application Security Professional exam with a score of 98%. "Without a doubt, Sam is an extremely valuable resource here at Fortrex and it should come as no surprise he scored so high," says Chris Konrad, SVP of Client Services at Fortrex. "I think we have, and are continuing to build, the best QDSP and QPASP team in the industry and our proven track record shows that," says Scott Sweren, Fortrex National Practice Manager.

April 17 2006   ScanSafe and Fortrex Partner to Defend against web borne threats

ScanSafe is the market leading provider of managed web security. ScanSafe services are delivered through their scalable, high performance, and always available distributed network architecture which services enterprises of all sizes. "We see a tremendous opportunity with ScanSafe. They have a solution that is addressing one of the biggest concerns in the industry today, which is the ever rising threat of Spyware", says Chris Konrad SVP at Fortrex.

April 2006        Fortrex invited to join the Visa LAC program

The Latin America and Caribbean Region of Visa International (Visa LAC) in 2000 introduced the Account Information Security Program (AIS) to help protect cardholder data. Recent changes approved by the Regional Board have widened the scope of the program, by setting fundamental security requirements for all Visa Members, merchants and third-party service providers. The changes also established a compliance validation requirement for the program. The requirement to validate compliance mandates an independent and qualified security company to perform this task.

April 2006        Fortrex closes Q1 in record fashion

With the addition of several strategic partnerships, its installed base of loyal customers and a rapid increase of first time buyers, Fortrex has celebrated a first quarter like none other in its eight year history.  "Hard work, a narrow focus and an unbelievable team of professionals have enabled us to make Q1 simply remarkable" says Chris Konrad SVP of Fortrex.  "We have hired  and partnered with some really talented people in key areas and increased overall efficiency by almost 47%, and I expect that trend to continue as the demand for our services continues" says Joshua Lyons Regional Sales Manager.

April 2006        Fortrex and Apani Come to Terms to Partner

Apani Networks, the leading enterprise network security software provider focused on securing inside the network perimeter has signed up with Fortrex to deliver it's market leading products. Regardless of which security regulations are impacting your organization, Apani's products will secure inside your network, maintain access control and provide you the auditing capabilities necessary to guarantee your security policies are adhered to. For more information send e-mail to info@fortrex.com

March 2006     Shift4 Corporation contracts Fortrex to conduct a PABP Audit

Shift4, a leading developer of financial transaction processing software and services, provides web-based, real-time enterprise payment solutions for leaders in the hospitality, retail, foodservices and e-commerce markets.  Shift4 had its MICROS 3700 and 8700 solutions independently audited by a qualified data security company, Fortrex Technologies, which validated both systems' compliance with the PABP guidelines.  "In our experience, this is a unique situation - a gateway taking it upon themselves to release a secure version of a third party's point-of-sale system," stated Chris Konrad, SVP of Client Services of Fortrex Technologies.  "I think it shows an amazing dedication to the security of their merchants, even beyond the piece of the process that Shift4 has traditionally handled, and a real commitment to the security of the industry as a whole."

March 2006     FIL-103-2005 Assessment Services

With the deadline of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) guidance, Authentication in an Internet Banking Environment, rapidly approaching, Fortrex has launched an Authentication in an Internet Banking Environment Gap Analysis Service.  This service is designed specifically to assist banks offering Internet-based financial services a level of understanding of where they are and where they need to be in accordance with the FFIEC guidance.  For more information, please e-mail info@fortrex.com.

March 2006     Internet Retailer Magazine Calls on Fortrex

Internet Retailer Magazine has called on National Practice Manager Scott Sweren, CISSP, CISM of Fortrex to help explain what merchants need to be aware of for PCI-DSS compliance.

14 Mar 2006     Fortrex and PassMark Partner to Address FIL-103-2005

Fortrex Technologies has inked an agreement to partner with PassMark.  PassMark delivers the world's leading authentication solution for online banking, now in full production with approximately 15 million retail and small business users.  Fortrex has complimented PassMark by conducting highly custom assessments in order to assist FI's with the FFIEC guidance.

March 2006     Fortrex PCI-DSS Revenue has grown over 387%

Fortrex Technologies, Inc. a market leader in conducting PCI audits has grown its revenue over 387% from 2003 to 2006.  "We have positioned ourselves very well to serve this market because of our flexibility and expertise" says, Chris Konrad SVP of Client Services.

March 2006    Fortrex to Moderate the Vendor Due-Diligence session at the ABA Conference in Orlando

Fortrex Cheif Strategy Officer Don Cochran will moderate a special session on Vendor Due-Diligence at the ABA Regulatory Compliance Conference to be held June 11 - 14, 2006 at the Walt Disney World Dolphin, Orlando, FL.  The session will include discussions on the need to identify, measure, monitor and manage critical and non-critical third party providers, the collaboration and correlation of information between compliance officers, line of business managers and support organizations, "Risk chain management" - a 3rd party provider's impact the bank's risk exposure Transforming "geek speak" to "business acumen".

21 Feb 2006    Fortrex in The News!!

National Practice Manager Scott Sweren was interviewed by Katy Brandenburg at the Frederick News Post for a special business publication coming out the week of February 27th.


20 Feb 2006    Fortrex has served over 450 customers

In February 2006, Fortrex has reached an impressive mark by delivering products and/or services to over 450 customers since its inception in 1997. "We pride ourselves in growing our business one client at a time. I can honestly say our success is due to our disciplined focus on client satisfaction and the experts in our professional services department", says Joshua Lyons, Fortrex Regional Sales Manager.


20 Feb 2006    Fortrex has been officially accepted in MasterCard's Site Data Protection Program (SDP)

Working through their acquiring members, the MasterCard SDP program is designed to help members, merchants and Service Providers - Third Party Processors (TPPs) and Data Storage Entities (DSEs) - proactively protect themselves and the overall payment system against the threat of compromises.


15 Feb 2006    Fortrex has been accepted by Visa USA as a Qualified Payment Application Security Company (QPASC) and is one of 19 companies in North America authorized to conduct such audits


20 Jan 2006    Fortrex Business Growing

Q1 for Fortrex is traditionally a slow time of year, however, with a focused effort on its core services, Fortrex Technologies Inc. is having the best start of any fiscal year in its 8 year existence. Fortrex Certification, PCI-DSS Audits and Risk Management Program design are dominating Fortrex revenues early in 2006. This trend has forecasts strong throughout 2006. For more information, please send e-mail to info@fortrex.com.


12 Jan 2006   SVP Chris Konrad interviewed by local newspaper

SVP of Client Services, Chris Konrad, was interviewed by Kevin Smith, staff writer for the Gazette newspaper, on the recent rise of phishing attacks.