Security Management and Compliance Group
SMC
Meet the SMC Team
The SMC team is comprised of industry professionals dedicated to the success of their clients. With decades of experience in the payment card industry overseeing security, compliance, and operations, SMC auditors have the knowledge required to provide the highest level of consultation to meet the tightest standards for security.
Nikola Kirov
Before founding the company in 2012, Nikola Kirov was a Corporate Director of Security for one of the leading card manufacturing facilities in the United States for 15 years. During his tenure he had an executive oversight of two highly regulated and controlled production environments located in Illinois & New Jersey, with more than 350 personnel and 130,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing floor.
He had direct accountability for creating specifications, contracting and documenting the initial installation, utilization and maintenance of physical and logical systems within direct compliance to Visa and MasterCard requirements (access control, burglar, CCTV, key management, Data Protection, Network Security).
In addition, he was responsible for implementation of security programs and measures such as departmental contingency planning, emergency response and crisis management, information protection, incident management, security training and awareness.
Since transitioning to card production security assessments in 2012 he has conducted over 300 audits on behalf of VISA, MasterCard, and American Express.
Larry Brown
Mr. Brown has over 30 years of experience in card personalization and manufacturing operations; including the 5 years consulting in the card industry. During this consulting period Larry assisted card industry leaders to construct, equip and certify secured card processing sites; successfully constructing or improving 9 US facilities to achieve desired card association (Visa/MC/AmEx/Discover) physical/logical security compliance and certification. These certification projects included construction (site and floor planning, and construction oversight); security infrastructure installation and implementation (intrusion alarms, access controls, and CCTV monitoring and recording); documentation (required policies, procedures and security forms); and coordination with the desired Association to include assistance during the site review.
Since transitioning to bankcard security auditing as a member of the SMC team in 2013, he has conducted over 200 Visa, MasterCard and American Express security audits worldwide.
Mr. Brown is Certified Information Security Manager based in Dallas, TX, USA.
Leandro Mercurio
Mr. Mercurio is a Security Information Specialist with over twelve years of experience in the payment card industry. As a compliance manager of one of the certified vendors in Brazil, overseeing two certified sites, he has gained knowledge and experience related to the Physical and Logical Security Requirements for Card Production Vendors.
During his tenure Leandro was responsible for maintaining the certification status for VISA, MasterCard, American Express, JCB and ELO. To that end he was directly involved in the creation, implementation, and maintenance of all physical and logical security controls including but not limited to Access Control System, Burglar Alarm, CCTV, Data Protection, Network Security, Encryption and Key Management, etc.
Since joining the SMC team in 2018, he has conducted over 50 Visa, MasterCard and American Express security audits worldwide.
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Mr. Mercurio is Certified Lead Auditor ISO 27001 based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He is fluent in English, Portuguese and Spanish.