PCI Compliance Company Services for Improved Security

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If you're looking to improve your company's security, it's essential to consider PCI compliance company services.

PCI compliance is a set of standards that helps protect sensitive credit card information.

A PCI compliance company can help you achieve this by conducting regular vulnerability scans and penetration testing.

This helps identify potential security threats and weaknesses in your system.

By addressing these issues, you can significantly reduce the risk of data breaches and protect your customers' sensitive information.

Regular security audits and risk assessments are also crucial in maintaining PCI compliance.

PCI Compliance

PCI compliance is a must for any company that deals with online transactions. It's a set of standards that ensures the safe handling of credit card data.

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of requirements that companies must meet to be PCI compliant. These requirements are set by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC).

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If a company processes, stores, or transmits credit card information, they must meet the PCI DSS requirements. This includes companies like Saks and Lord & Taylor, which had 5 million customers' credit card data stolen in 2018.

The PCI SSC is an open global forum that develops and maintains standards for credit card merchants and payment applications. This council was launched in 2003.

To be PCI compliant, companies must have the proper systems in place to avoid penalties. This includes having systems that can detect and prevent cybercrime and credit card theft.

The type of PCI compliance validation a merchant needs depends on their total Visa transaction volume over a 12-month period. This determines the merchant level and the necessary requirements for validation.

Here are the merchant levels and their corresponding transaction thresholds:

Acquirers must ensure that their merchants validate at the appropriate level and obtain the required compliance validation documentation from their merchants. This is to confirm that cardholder data is being safely handled and to expose any weaknesses that need to be addressed.

Regulations and Requirements

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The Visa Core Rules and Visa Product and Service Rules govern the activities of client financial institutions and service providers, including merchants, in the Visa payment system. These rules ensure that service providers and merchants maintain full compliance with the PCI DSS.

Issuers and acquirers are responsible for ensuring PCI DSS compliance of their service providers and merchants, including service providers used by merchants. This means that service providers and merchants must always maintain full compliance.

Visa may assess a non-compliance assessment to the issuer or acquirer if a service provider or merchant does not comply with the PCI DSS or fails to rectify a security issue. The issuer or acquirer is responsible for paying all assessments.

There are 12 requirements for PCI DSS compliance, which can be overwhelming for some businesses. However, with the right guidance, organizations of all sizes can remain protected from card data breaches.

Here are the 12 requirements for PCI DSS compliance:

  1. Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data.
  2. Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters.
  3. Protect stored cardholder data.
  4. Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks.
  5. Use and regularly update anti-virus software.
  6. Develop and maintain secure systems and applications.
  7. Restrict access to cardholder data by business need-to-know.
  8. Assign a unique ID to each person with computer access.
  9. Restrict physical access to cardholder data.
  10. Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data.
  11. Regularly test security systems and processes.
  12. Maintain a policy that addresses information security.

Visa's programs manage PCI DSS compliance by requiring participants to demonstrate compliance on a regular basis. The PCI Security Standards Council (SSC) owns and manages the PCI DSS and its supporting documents, while Visa manages data security compliance enforcement and validation initiatives.

Certification and Security

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Becoming PCI compliant means achieving PCI certification, which proves your organization has met PCI standards. This certification is essential for handling credit card data securely.

Intersec, a leading independent Qualified Security Assessor (QSA), provides the most informative and efficient audit process possible. They will produce a final report after the audit, which will be submitted to the acquiring bank or card brand as well as the PCI Security Standards Council.

The ultimate goal of becoming PCI compliant is to ensure that your stored credit card data is safe. VikingCloud, a QSA-C, ASV, and PFI, ensures validation of your compliance efforts, meeting the requirements set forth by major card brands.

Your business could be shut down at its lifeline if you fall out of compliance, making proactive security and compliance essential. Intersec's Compliance Monitoring (CM) program provides affordable solutions to ensure you are both proactively secure and compliant.

ScienceSoft, a PCI compliance services provider, has a solid portfolio of successfully completed projects since 2003. They are a Microsoft Solutions Partner, AWS Select Tier Services Partner, and ISO 9001-certified for mature quality management.

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To achieve PCI certification, your organization must adopt best practices to meet PCI standards. Crimson IT's PCI DSS trained staff will help you do this and receive the official certification to prove it.

Here are some of the key services offered by ScienceSoft and other PCI compliance companies:

  • Security Assessment
  • Vulnerability Scanning
  • Training & Awareness
  • Phishing & Social Engineering
  • Firewall Security
  • Risk Management
  • Threat Mitigation + DDOS
  • PCI Compliance
  • Penetration Testing

These services will help you navigate the entire PCI compliance process, from pre-analysis to ongoing maintenance.

Compliance Process

Becoming PCI compliant is a complex process, but it's essential for any business that processes, stores, or transmits credit card information. To achieve compliance, you'll need to meet the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements.

The PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) is an open global forum that develops and maintains standards for credit card merchants and payment applications. The council was launched in 2003 and provides a framework for businesses to follow.

To ensure compliance, businesses must identify the components of their IT environment and employees involved in operations with cardholder data. This includes detecting potential threats and developing risk mitigation and incident response plans.

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Reviewing and improving security policies and procedures is also crucial. This involves analyzing existing policies, identifying gaps, and providing recommendations for improvement. Additionally, promoting PCI security awareness among employees is essential to prevent security breaches.

A security assessment of IT infrastructure and software is also necessary to identify vulnerabilities and ensure compliance. This includes vulnerability assessment, penetration testing, software architecture review, and software source code review.

To maintain compliance, businesses must implement security measures required by PCI DSS, such as ensuring strong network access controls, designing a secure network architecture, and installing and configuring firewalls, anti-malware, and intrusion detection systems.

The compliance process can be broken down into several key components:

  • Identifying the components of the IT environment and employees involved in operations with cardholder data
  • Detecting potential threats and developing risk mitigation and incident response plans
  • Reviewing and improving security policies and procedures
  • Promoting PCI security awareness among employees
  • Conducting a security assessment of IT infrastructure and software
  • Implementing security measures required by PCI DSS

Here's a summary of the compliance process:

By following these steps, businesses can ensure they are PCI compliant and protect their customers' sensitive information.

Company Services

Our company offers a range of services to help you achieve PCI compliance. We provide expert guidance tailored to meet PCI DSS compliance requirements effectively. Our team can identify and address vulnerabilities in your security infrastructure proactively, ensuring your business is protected against breaches.

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We offer ongoing assessments to uphold continuous compliance standards, mitigating the risk of penalties and fines resulting from non-compliance. Our PCI Compliance experts are equipped to align your organization with PCI requirements, ensuring that all protocols and data security measures meet industry standards.

Here are some key services we offer:

  • Gain expert guidance tailored to meet PCI DSS compliance requirements effectively.
  • Identify and address vulnerabilities in your security infrastructure proactively.
  • Benefit from ongoing assessments to uphold continuous compliance standards.
  • Mitigate the risk of penalties and fines resulting from non-compliance.

Consulting

At VikingCloud, our consulting services are designed to help businesses like yours navigate the complexities of data protection and ensure compliance with all PCI DSS requirements.

Our PCI Compliance Consultants are experts in guiding organizations through the process of safeguarding their business against breaches and establishing secure network environments.

We identify and address vulnerabilities in your security infrastructure proactively, ensuring that your valuable customer data is protected.

Our team will help you develop a robust security policy and provide strategic insights for achieving and maintaining compliance.

Here are some benefits of choosing our PCI Compliance Consultants:

  • Gain expert guidance tailored to meet PCI DSS compliance requirements effectively.
  • Identify and address vulnerabilities in your security infrastructure proactively.
  • Benefit from ongoing assessments to uphold continuous compliance standards.
  • Mitigate the risk of penalties and fines resulting from non-compliance.

We'll help you steer clear of costly fines or penalties associated with non-compliance, allowing you to focus on propelling your business forward.

The Global Leader

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We've got a global leader in PCI compliance, and it's VikingCloud. They have an impressive 100+ Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs) on their team.

VikingCloud's in-house Compliance Council is a significant asset in ensuring their clients' PCI DSS compliance programs are effective and cost-efficient.

Their custom-built platform is specifically designed to protect organizations from security threats and fines.

The Asgard Platform

The Asgard Platform is a game-changer for companies looking to simplify PCI compliance management. It provides a secure, centralized hub for real-time visibility, communication, task management, sharing, and storage of key documents and sensitive information.

With the Asgard Platform's easy-to-use dashboard, timeline, and alerts, you'll never miss an upcoming deadline or key action item again. This streamlined approach helps keep everyone focused, productive, and on time.

The Asgard Platform is especially convenient for companies with multiple assessments or those using other VikingCloud solutions like Penetration Testing and Vulnerability Scanning – you'll have the convenience of seeing and managing them all in one place.

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Here are some of the key benefits of the Asgard Platform:

The Asgard Platform delivers better and more streamlined cybersecurity and compliance protection – without taking more of your time.

For Payment Software Vendors

For Payment Software Vendors, establishing a secure development environment is crucial to ensure PCI compliance. VikingCloud's expert team can help you develop or improve security policies and procedures to meet the PCI Secure Software Lifecycle Standard.

They will secure your development infrastructure by implementing multi-factor authentication, network segmentation, and zero-trust access to code repositories. This will prevent unauthorized access to your sensitive data.

VikingCloud's team will also design a secure software architecture by employing application partitioning and container-based approaches to restrict access to critical components of your application. This will give you better control over your code.

They will also design software security features such as user authentication, verification, and authorization, as well as data backup and cryptography. This will ensure that your software is secure and compliant with PCI standards.

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To detect and fix software security vulnerabilities throughout the software development lifecycle (SDLC), VikingCloud's team will conduct software architecture reviews, dynamic/static code analysis, and penetration testing. They will also perform compliance testing before your software launch.

Here are some key benefits of working with VikingCloud's PCI compliance experts:

  • Gain expert guidance tailored to meet PCI DSS compliance requirements effectively.
  • Identify and address vulnerabilities in your security infrastructure proactively.
  • Benefit from ongoing assessments to uphold continuous compliance standards.
  • Mitigate the risk of penalties and fines resulting from non-compliance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who handles PCI compliance?

The PCI Security Standards Council, a collaborative effort of major payment brands, is responsible for administering PCI DSS and related security standards. This council ensures that organizations comply with the necessary security protocols to protect sensitive payment information.

Adrian Fritsch-Johns

Senior Assigning Editor

Adrian Fritsch-Johns is a seasoned Assigning Editor with a keen eye for compelling content. With a strong background in editorial management, Adrian has a proven track record of identifying and developing high-quality article ideas. In his current role, Adrian has successfully assigned and edited articles on a wide range of topics, including personal finance and customer service.

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