Forty-one percent of merchants are relying on compensating controls to meet Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements, according to a survey released Monday by the Ponemon Institute and commissioned by encryption firm Thales. The survey, which polled 155 qualified security security assessors, who are charged with confirming a company's adherence to PCI. Compensating controls "may be considered for most PCI DSS requirements when an entity cannot meet a requirement explicitly as stated, due to legitimate technical or documented business constraints," according to the PCI Security Standards Council. — DK