A Quick Guide to PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) Compliance

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance stands at the forefront of safeguarding sensitive payment information in today’s digital landscape. It sets forth a comprehensive framework for the secure handling, processing, and storing of payment card data.

As cyber threats are evolving, adhering to PCI DSS standards is paramount for businesses involved in payment card transactions to protect consumers’ card data. Let’s dive in and learn more about PCI DSS compliance below!

What is Meant by PCI DSS?

PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is a set of processes and policies for optimizing the security of debit, credit, and cash transactions. Further, it will also help in protecting cardholders’ data against theft.

PCI DSS was developed to prevent sensitive data against breaches and minimizes the fraudulent risk for companies that manage payment card data. All its protocols and guidelines are developed by The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council.

What Is the Goal of PCI DSS?

The main purpose of PCI DSS is to safeguard cardholders’ sensitive data while it is stored, processed and transported. PCI DSS security protocols help organizations in mitigating data breaches and identity theft.

Maintaining PCI DSS compliance ensures that companies stick to industry practices while processing and transmitting credit card information.

Top 6 Principles of PCI DSS Compliance

Here are the six principles of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard compliance that every organization should follow:

• Maintain Secure Systems and Network: All the card transactions must be processed in a secured network. The infrastructure should have firewalls to mitigate eavesdropping and malicious attacks. Moreover, the vendor provided authentication data should also not be used.
• Safeguard Cardholder Details: All companies sticking to PCI DSS should keep all the cardholder’s data safe and secure wherever it is stored. All data when transmitted through public networks should also be secured through encryption.
• Implement a Vulnerability Management Program: Card service companies should implement risk management and assessment programs to safeguard systems from malicious attacks like malware and spyware.
• Implement Access Control Measures: Access to data and systems should be restricted and unique identification names or numbers should be assigned for use. Measures should be taken to restrict physical and digital access to cardholders’ data.
• Frequently Test and Oversee Networks: All the networks within your organization should be regularly tested and monitored to ensure that they’re free from vulnerabilities.
• Implement an Information Security Policy: A proper information security policy should be defined and followed within the organization. Enforcement measures like audits and noncompliance penalties should also be implemented.

What are the 12 PCI Compliance Requirements?

All organizations that need to be PCI DSS compliant should fulfil the following PCI compliance requirements:

• Install a firewall to manage and protect customer card details
• Do not use passwords given by the vendor of the software
• Keep the cardholder’s data protected
• Encrypt the payment card data transported over open and public networks
• Frequently update the antivirus software
• Develop and manage secure applications and systems
• Restrict the employees access to the cardholder’s data
• Use a unique ID for each employee to access the cardholder’s data
• Restrict the physical access to customers’ card data
• Track and oversee all access to the company’s resources
• Frequently test the applications and systems for vulnerabilities
• Implement and maintain an information security policy.

What are the PCI DSS Compliance Levels?

PCI DSS compliance requirements are categorized into 4 merchant levels depending on the volume of card transactions processed by an organization annually. Here are the four validation levels under PCI DSS compliance:

Level 1: It includes companies that manage 6 million card transactions per annum. These companies’ type should pass Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) assessment every year and should have an Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV) for a quarterly network visibility scan.

Level 2: This level is applicable to merchants that manage 1 million to 6 million card transactions annually. These companies are required to complete an annual Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) and also need to submit ASV network vulnerability scans on a quarterly basis.

Level 3: This level includes companies that manage card transactions from 20k to 1 million annually. They are also required to complete SAQ annually and submit network vulnerability scans quarterly.

Level 4: Level 4 includes companies that manage less than 20,000 card transactions annually. Like other levels, these merchants are also required to complete SAQ annually and submit a network vulnerability scan quarterly.

Benefits of PCI DSS Compliance

Staying compliant with PCI DSS helps you build trust and credibility among your customers and enhance the brand reputation. Additionally, it offers the following benefits to your business:

• Helps in building customers trust by securing their data
• Reduces the chances of data breaches
• Helps in preventing fraudulent practices
• Assists in maintaining regulatory compliance
• Helps in reducing data breach expenses

Challenges of PCI DSS Compliance

Despite offering multiple benefits, staying PCI DSS compliant poses some challenges for organizations such as fulfilling all the mandatory compliance requirements and paying expensive costs to meet compliance.

Some other challenges faced by an organization include:

• Organizations find it a little complicated to understand and implement PCI DSS requirements
• The cost of implementing PCI DSS is quite expensive
• Maintaining compliance with PCI DSS is an ongoing process and requires a lot of time and resources
• The compliance requirements of PCI DSS keep on changing therefore, meeting them might be challenging for businesses

PCI DSS Compliance Best Practices

These practices will help you comply with PCI DSS and create a secure environment for transportation of cardholder’s data. Here are some of the best practices suggested by PCI SSC for keeping up with PCI DSS compliance as enumerated below:

• Store only the cardholder data that is important for business operations
• Create performance metrics for evaluating compliance
• Create additional security requirements in addition to PCI DSS specific to your organization and industry
• Teach employees on social engineering data breaches to prevent data theft
• Formulate procedures to address and tackle security failures
• Oversee vendor service providers’ compliance
• Assign compliance related tasks to only qualified employees
• Regularly monitor the systems and processes to identify vulnerabilities

Conclusion

The importance of protecting sensitive payment information cannot be overstated. By implementing the protocols of PCI DSS, you can contribute to a more secure payment ecosystem, ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of cardholders’ data. Moreover, it will also help in building trust with your customers.

FAQ Related to PCI DSS