Sam Pfanstiel Ph.D.

Principal in Industry Solutions at Coalfire

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, 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, providing extensive support to multiple PCI SSC Special Interest Groups and Task Forces; serving as former chair of the ETA Risk, Fraud, and Security Committee; and leading multiple educational initiatives as part of the Conexxus Data Security Committee. Sam has had the privilege of speaking at annual conferences held by PCI SSC, ETA, Verifone, ACI, Mastercard, Treasury Institute, MAC, Conexxus, NACS, and ICMC. 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.