Mellow Mushroom Partners With PCI Industry Expert

Online, November 23, 2010 (Newswire.com) - BHI SecureConnect is pleased to announce today, that it has been selected as the endorsed and preferred PCI compliance provider for Mellow Mushroom and its franchise community. Seeing the potential vulnerabilities within its network, the pizza chain decided to make every location safe by mandating PCI compliance among its franchise community.

"A security breach can have a devastating impact on the franchisee and the entire brand as a whole. For this reason we felt requiring our franchisees to have a consistent comprehensive solution was the best approach for our system," said, Jeff Wiggins, CFO of Mellow Mushroom. "We wanted in-store [network] protection that would be perpetually maintained and updated at a reasonable cost."

After evaluating several vendors, Mellow Mushroom decided that the SecureConnect National Account Program, which offers franchisors a cost-effective, comprehensive solution, was the best choice. In partnership with SecureConnect, the brand spearheaded an aggressive effort to educate and simplify the PCI process. As part of BHI services franchisees will receive necessary support services for compliance and security while benefitting from ongoing communication and educational resources to help them understand the importance behind the initiative.

"We considered four different vendors in the process and SecureConnect quickly became our biggest contender," said Wiggins. "Some key factors in our decision were the number of years of experience, depth of technology and security expertise, range of services provided and the ability to educate and assist our franchisees on the many requirements of PCI compliance that go beyond hardware and software."

Vital for Mellow Mushroom's continued growth, SecureConnect is implementing a security and compliance initiative for the brand while allowing franchisees to focus attention on the day-to-day business activities within their restaurants. Essential services provided by SecureConnect include a fully managed firewall, centralized logging and reporting, 24x7x365 monitoring and support, quarterly vulnerability scanning, SAQ Assistance and a $100,000 Breach Protection Program that is double the industry average.

"We feel that SecureConnect is a solid business partner with a wealth of experience and technical expertise, particularly as it relates to system security and PCI Compliance," said Wiggins. "SecureConnect offers a comprehensive turn-key solution to address the evolving challenges of PCI compliance."

Mellow Mushroom is the ideal case of how franchise organizations should approach PCI compliance and network security. SecureConnect is able to not just deliver compliance, but true security beyond PCI. For more information on how SecureConnect can help your organization meet the challenge of PCI Compliance and protect your brand, please visit www.secureconnect.com

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About BHI Advanced Internet, Inc. provider of SecureConnect®: BHI Advanced Internet is a leading Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP), offering a wide-range of Internet security, managed network, and PCI compliance services to the multi-site retail industry. Named on the Inc. 5000 list as one of the country's fastest growing companies and rated by the Star Tribune as one of the top 50 places to work in Minnesota, the company has experienced double digit revenue growth each of the past five years. SecureConnect®, BHI's innovative flagship service, provides reliable, secure and PCI compliant networks at thousands of locations for leading retail brands across the U.S. and Canada.