PCI Security Standards Council expected to issue guidelines on use of point-to-point encryption in protecting payment card data. Hackers have taken advantage of this weakness, as the notorious criminal Albert Gonzalez did two years ago in his attack against Heartland Payment Systems and many merchants, including TJX Companies and Hannaford. The guidelines only pertain to hardware-based equipment, but the narrow approach which is focused on hardware is raising questions. The council has drawn from work done at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)”]