RandomStorm provides Premier League security

Premier League football clubs Sunderland and Reading have both recruited RandomStorm's online security management service to protect their online sales and comply with payment card industry standards.

"Running a Premier League football club is like any other multi-million pound business," said Roger Whitehill, Sunderland's business management accountant. "We have a duty of care to ensure that private and confidential data held on our networks is fully protected."

All the major UK football clubs have developed online shops through which fans can book and pay for match and season tickets as well shop for their replica shirts, posters and other club merchandise. RandomStorm's software holds PCI Approved Scanning Vendor status, which means issuing banks will accept online credit card transactions from the clubs.

In addition to the club's website Sunderland also runs a sophisticated back office network that includes a VoIP phone system. "We can schedule scans to run at regular intervals and receive alerts if there are any problems in time to prevent a security breach," Whitehill said. "The alternative would have been to employ a specialist security person with all the costs that would have entailed."