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The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) was created to address the proliferation of data breaches involving payment cards. It provides requirements to help merchants and service providers achieve PCI DSS compliance and securely process and store consumer card data. This post explores the key benefits of achieving PCI compliance and summarizes what’s new in the upcoming PCI DSS 4.0 standard.

What Is PCI Compliance?

The Payment Card Industry (PCI) cybersecurity compliance standard exists to protect debit and credit cardholder data from unauthorized access via data breaches, ransomware, and other security breaches. The standard encompasses all IT and operational controls organizations must implement to protect credit card data.

PCI DSS control objectives and compliance requirements affect any business that handles payment processing, storage, or transmission of credit card data electronically, most often E-Commerce and Retail businesses.

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Why is PCI Compliance Important?

The Payment Card Industry (PCI) cybersecurity compliance standard exists to protect debit and credit cardholder data from unauthorized access via data breaches, ransomware, and other security breaches. The standard encompasses all IT and operational controls organizations must implement to protect credit card data.

PCI DSS control objectives and compliance requirements affect any business that handles payment processing, storage, or transmission of credit card data electronically, most often E-Commerce and Retail businesses.

Key Benefits of PCI DSS Compliance

Becoming PCI compliant provides several key benefits for merchants and service providers that handle payment card data:

  • Reduces the risk of costly data breaches that expose customer card details. PCI compliance helps secure cardholder data through requirements like encryption, access controls, security testing, and vulnerability management.
  • Avoid substantial fines and penalties. If a merchant is breached and found non-compliant, fines can range from $5,000 to $100,000 per month, depending on the level of non-compliance.
  • Maintain credibility and trust with customers. Being PCI-compliant demonstrates a commitment to protecting sensitive customer information. This helps build brand reputation.
  • Gain access to payment networks. Being PCI compliant is necessary for obtaining and maintaining credit card processing abilities from top payment brands. Non-compliance can lead to loss of access.
  • Increase operational efficiency. The controls required by PCI DSS often lead to more streamlined business processes, reduced clutter, and enhanced data management.

 

PCI DSS Requirements at a Glance

PCI DSS is a set of security controls organizations must implement to maintain a secure environment for cardholder data. It initially launched in 2006 and has gone through several revisions since then. The latest version is PCI DSS 4.0.

The levels of PCI compliance include:

1

LEVEL 1
For merchants that process more than 6 million card transactions annually.
These organizations are required to undergo an external audit performed by a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA)

2

LEVEL 2
For merchants that process 1 MILLION to 6 MILLION transactions annually

3

LEVEL 3
For merchants that process 20,000 to 1 MILLION transactions annually

4

LEVEL 4
For merchants that process FEWER THAN 20,000 transactions annually

Organizations in PCI Levels 2 through 4 can complete a self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) instead of an external audit.

Principal PCI DSS Requirements

1

Requirement – Build and Maintain a Secure Network and Systems

  • Install and maintain network security controls.
  • Apply secure configurations to all system components.
2

Requirement – Protect Cardholder Data

  • Protect stored account data.
  • Protect cardholder data with solid cryptography during transmission over open, public networks.
3

Requirement – Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program

  • Protect all systems and networks from malicious software.
  • Develop and maintain secure systems and software.
4

Requirement – Implement Strong Access Control Measures

  • Restrict access to system components and cardholder data by business.
  • Identify users and authenticate access to system components.
  • Restrict physical access to cardholder data.
5

Requirement – Regularly Monitor and Test Networks

  • Log and monitor all access to system components and cardholder data.
  • Test the security of systems and networks regularly.
6

Requirement – Maintain an Information Security Policy

  • Support Information Security with organizational policies and programs.

Learn how self-assessments streamline PCI compliance

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The Challenges of Obtaining PCI Compliance

Achieving PCI compliance will require your organization to embed defined security measures and data protection protocols into every aspect of your business. This will require validation of your existing security controls and auditing of all your sensitive data so you can identify gaps in your IT security.

Maintaining a compliance management program will become more complex as your business grows. Spreadsheets you might have used from your early days as a small business will become unmanageable, costing your program manager hours in lost productivity and significantly increasing the chance for non-compliance.

The Future of PCI DSS

PCI DSS recently released version 4.0 of its standard, which goes into effect in 2024. Merchants and service providers will need to transition to v4.0 by that time. Here’s what to expect:

  • Expanded multi-factor authentication requirements to help defend against compromised credentials.
  • Enhanced detection of unauthorized activity by implementing session controls, logging, and monitoring.
  • More excellent protection of sensitive authentication data to limit exposures.
  • More robust security controls for service providers accessing payment systems and card data.
  • Additional penetration testing requirements to validate security against known attacks.
  • Ongoing assessments to ensure compliance rather than annual checks.

Critical changes in PCI DSS 4.0 aim to account for evolving threats and security landscapes like cloud computing. They provide more ways to stop data breaches before they occur. As the standard matures, merchants and service providers must stay updated on new requirements and timelines.

RiskOptics Has Your PCI Compliance Solution

Powered by our fully integrated and automated solutions, our compliance tool equips you with a strong foundation for IT compliance, enabling you to monitor your program over time to ensure you remain compliant and avoid non-compliance penalties.

With ZenGRC, key stakeholders, employees, and your PCI compliance managers have access to a single source of truth that covers all of your current and future compliance risks across all cybersecurity and privacy frameworks relevant to your business, whether they be PCI DSS, GDPR, HIPAA, ISO or others.

ZenGRC PCI Capabilities

  • User-friendly dashboard with real-time metrics on prioritized risks
  • Pre-built evidence request templates and automated evidence collection can help streamline your compliance audits
  • A central repository for all audit-ready documentation
  • Universal Control Mapping to fulfill multiple requirements with a single control
  • Interconnectivity between threats, vulnerabilities, risks, and controls for greater insight and monitoring
  • Risk management functionality for providers and their related services
Ready to see ZenGRC in action?

Ready to see ZenGRC in action?

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Frequently Asked Questions

PCI DSS control objectives and compliance requirements are legally enforceable. While they are not required by law, the PC Security Standards Council can require businesses to follow PCI standards if they want to handle credit card transactions and revoke that access when a company fails to meet the standard’s requirements.

So, as a practical matter, any business that handles payment processing, storage, or transmission of credit card data electronically, regardless of its size or the volume of its transactions, is subject to PCI DSS compliance.

PCI DSS is a security standard created to address and curb the prevalence of data breaches that involve payment credit or debit cards.

PCI is a data security standard created by the credit card industry. Companies that process, store, or transmit credit card data must comply with this standard. Alternatively, ISO 27001 is an international standard that provides the framework for any organization’s information security management program. More to the point, ISO 27001 certification is optional.

PCI data includes cardholder data such as:

  • Name
  • Account number
  • Card expiration date
  • CVV or security code

It also includes authentication data, such as the magnetic stripe, chip, and pin data.

  • STEP 1: Determine your PCI level (1-4).
  • STEP 2: Complete a self-assessment questionnaire or evaluation by a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA).
  • STEP 3: Build and maintain an IT security program that protects cardholder data and meets the guidelines specified in the PCI control objectives.
  • STEP 4: Apply for formal attestation of compliance with the PCI Security Standards Council, as applicable for service providers such as scanning vendors and point-to-point encryption assessors.

Cybersecurity risk analysis allows your organization to identify your sensitive data, understand your risks, and devise a strategy to protect and mitigate those data. This type of analysis is also an excellent opportunity for an organization to inventory systems and resources and ensure that the proper security controls safeguard each.

For smaller organizations at levels 2 through 4, with a self-assessment questionnaire, vulnerability scanning, IT security development, and risk remediation, you could be looking at costs of $10,000 to $20,000.

A large enterprise, on the other hand, typically needs on-premise auditing, vulnerability scanning, penetration testing, training, IT security development, and risk remediation. That organization might incur costs of $70,000 to $100,000 for PCI compliance.

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