Phin Solutions Aims High for Compliance; Joins TECH LOCK Certified Program

TECH LOCK, Inc. announces the joining of Minnesota based Phin Solutions, Inc. to its TECH LOCK® Certified program.  TECH LOCK® Certified is a data security audit, performed by information security professionals combining multiple regulatory and industry standard control objectives into a single audit to provide the agency cost savings and provide their clients with a true data security compliance validation.

Recognizing the casual use of SSAE 16 or the risk associated with non-comprehensive single focused audit (ISO 27002), Phin Solutions contacted TECH LOCK to obtain a true 3rd party data security audit and validation to set itself apart from the majority and establish a key company differentiator and a competitive advantage. Differentiation is one of the most important aspects of marketing for companies in the competitive ARM Industry. If you are not able to differentiate your business from that of your competitors there is nothing stopping your customers from taking their business elsewhere.

Organizations in the ARM industry have utilized the old SAS 70 or the new SSAE 16 to meet client due diligence requirements. Others may have had to obtain a single-threaded control based audit like ISO 27002 for proof of security and privacy compliance. After performing due diligence, Phin Solutions realized neither really rates a company’s security controls against the multiple Federal or State Laws that ARM companies need to comply with or provide the best of all with a holistic assessment.

“Our business is information services to the financial services marketplace, therefore a comprehensive audit service like TECH LOCK® Certified exceeds our client requirements,” says Todd Hinrichs, Phin Solution’s president & chief executive officer.  “We entered the TECH LOCK® Certified  program to obtain a true validation of our technical, physical, and administrative safeguards. TECH LOCK has a unique product that combines multiple data security standards into one audit saving us time and money. More importantly, TECH LOCK® Certified provides our clients a comprehensive risk assessment by an independent third party for their due diligence requirements. TECH LOCK® Certified will provide Phin Solutions a competitive differentiator along with preparedness for any new client requirements for the next 12 months.”

“Phin Solutions takes securing their client data very seriously,” says Todd Langusch, TECH LOCK’s founder and chief executive officer.  “Phin Solutions should be applauded for questioning the relativity of SSAE 16 as a measure of security and privacy controls. I am amazed at how many companies in the ARM Industry as well as their clients still have this misunderstanding, even though the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), which created and maintains SSAE 16, specifically states to not use it for security and privacy assessments. In addition, a SOC 2 and SOC 3 will not get a collection agency taking credit cards over the phone or web, compliant with the PCI DSS or Nevada’s NRS 603a Nevada’s Security of Personal Information Law.”

Phin Solutions is an information services company. Since July 2000 Phin Solutions has been providing bankruptcy and deceased information and consulting services to the financial services marketplace. Our focus is primarily on the collection and distribution of bankruptcy and deceased information to help organizations better manage their customer portfolios. Bankruptcy information, Deceased information, Address append services, Address scores, Telephone append services, Electronic Directory Assistance (EDA), Military Verification. Most notably is our Noticing Network℠ Software that provides organizations the ability to bring daily bankruptcy and deceased information, along with the matching algorithms in-house to identify bankrupt accounts within their customer portfolios behind their firewall and in their secure environment. This provides a more timely and secure portfolio monitoring solution.

TECH LOCK, Inc. is a Payment Card Industry Qualified Security Assessor (PCI QSA) and Approved Scanning Vendor (PCI ASV) focused on serving the ARM industry, including credit grantors, collection agencies, debt buyers, service organizations, healthcare providers and more. Tech Lock’s IT professionals all possess Fortune 100 and ARM industry experience. This makes Tech Lock uniquely skilled in serving the ARM industry as it relates to information technology, data security, and regulatory compliance. Compliance validation is performed in areas such as PCI DSS, HIPAA, GLBA, Red Flags Rule, ISO 27002, FISMA (NIST 800-53), Nevada NRS 603a, Massachusetts 201 CMR 17.00, and CFPB Readiness. TECH LOCK is a service disabled veteran owned small business. For more information, please visit www.techlockinc.com.