Sam Pfanstiel, PhD

As Principal in the Industry Solutions team at Coalfire, Sam is responsible for providing advisory and assessment services for P2PE, PIN, and 3DS solutions and components; performing SSF application security assessments; and identifying the security and compliance impacts of innovative payment technologies for merchants and providers.

Sam has been a key member of the Coalfire payments team for five years, bringing a quarter-century of experience in a broad spectrum of disciplines; including payments, security, compliance, fraud, cloud services, application development, mobile technology, infrastructure, and cryptography. Prior to Coalfire, Sam has held roles of Director of IT, Director of Security Consulting, CIO, and CEO.

Sam remains an active contributor in many industry community organizations, serving as the co-chair of the Cloud Security Alliance key management working group; former chair of the ETA Risk, Fraud, and Security Committee; and serving in contributory role for multiple PCI SSC Special Interest Groups and Task Forces and the Conexxus Data Security Committee. Sam has had the privilege of speaking at ICMC on several occasions, as well as conferences held by PCI SSC, ETA, Verifone, ACI, Mastercard, Treasury Institute, MAC, Conexxus, and NACS. He recently received his Ph.D., having published his dissertation on the impacts of retail management perceptions on cybersecurity investment.

Sam lives near Denver, Colorado, where he is an avid distance runner and skier. He and his wife Melinda have been married for 25 years and have three adult children.