PCI DSS Quick Reference Guide to Compliance and Security

To achieve PCI DSS compliance, merchants and service providers must adhere to a set of 12 requirements outlined in the PCI DSS standard.

The PCI DSS standard is developed and maintained by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), a global forum that brings together payment industry stakeholders to develop and implement standardized data security measures.

Compliance with PCI DSS is mandatory for any entity that accepts, processes, stores, or transmits cardholder data, including merchants, service providers, and third-party vendors.

In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces PCI DSS compliance, while in the European Union, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) also applies to entities handling cardholder data.

The PCI DSS compliance process involves several steps, including compliance validation and annual validation.

Compliance validation is the evaluation and confirmation that the security controls and procedures have been implemented according to the PCI DSS. This is typically done through an annual assessment, either by an external entity or by self-assessment.

To determine which form to use for compliance validation, you'll need to figure out which Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) is applicable to your business. The PCI Council offers nine different forms, but you'll need to hire a PCI Council-approved auditor to verify that each PCI DSS security requirement has been met if you're unsure.

Annual validation is required for all organizations that process, store, or transmit cardholder data. This involves completing a PCI validation form annually and may be requested by payment processors, business partners, or customers.

There are four levels of compliance, each with different requirements:

Understanding the compliance process and which level applies to your business is crucial to maintaining PCI DSS compliance.

Compliance reporting is a crucial aspect of PCI DSS. Companies must prove and report their compliance based on their annual number of transactions and how they're processed.

There are four merchant levels, which determine how often a company must undergo a Report on Compliance (ROC) and submit an Attestation of Compliance (AOC). Here are the merchant levels:

A ROC is conducted by a PCI Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) to validate a company's compliance with the PCI DSS standard. This results in a ROC Reporting Template and an Attestation of Compliance (AOC).

Reporting levels are a crucial aspect of PCI DSS compliance, and they're based on the number of transactions an organization processes annually.

Companies are categorized into four levels, which are determined by their annual transaction volume.

Here's a breakdown of the merchant levels:

The acquirer or payment brand may manually place an organization into a reporting level at its discretion, so it's essential to understand which level you fall into to ensure accurate compliance reporting.

A Report on Compliance, also known as a ROC, is a crucial step in ensuring your organization meets the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements.

A ROC is conducted by a PCI Qualified Security Assessor (QSA), who provides independent validation of your entity's compliance with the PCI DSS standard.

This process results in two essential documents: a ROC Reporting Template and an Attestation of Compliance (AOC).

The ROC Reporting Template is populated with a detailed explanation of the testing completed, giving you a clear picture of your organization's compliance status.

The AOC documents that a ROC has been completed and provides the overall conclusion of the ROC, giving you a formal confirmation of your compliance.

Data security is a top priority for any organization that handles sensitive credit card data. PCI DSS sets a baseline level of protection for consumers and helps reduce fraud and data breaches across the entire payment ecosystem.

To store data securely, an organization needs to define the scope of its cardholder data environment (CDE), which includes people, processes, and technologies that store, process, or transmit credit card data. This requires properly segmenting the payment environment from the rest of the business to limit the scope of PCI validation.

You'll want to create a comprehensive map of the systems, network connections, and applications that interact with credit card data across your organization. This includes identifying every consumer-facing area of the business that involves payment transactions, pinpointing the various ways cardholder data is handled, and identifying internal systems or underlying technologies that touch payment transactions.

Here are the 12 security requirements for PCI DSS that you should focus on to secure the transmission of data:

Data protection is a crucial aspect of data security, especially when it comes to sensitive information like credit card data. Cardholder data should be logged and stored in secure locations, as stated in Principle 2: Data protection.

To ensure data protection, it's essential to separate customer data from other network assets, just like Principle 2 suggests. This means keeping sensitive information isolated from other systems to prevent unauthorized access.

Cardholder data should only be accessible to authenticated and authorized users, as Principle 4: Access control emphasizes. This involves applying role-based controls to manage access and removing privileges when they're not required.

To protect the network edge, firewalls, software updates, and threat detection systems are essential, as Principle 1: Network security explains. These measures help guard against malicious agents and intruders.

Here are the 12 security requirements for PCI DSS, which are designed to secure the transmission of data:

By following these security requirements, organizations can effectively protect sensitive credit card data and maintain the trust of their customers.

As you work to keep your data secure, ongoing vulnerability management is a crucial aspect of your data security strategy.

Organizations should assess potential vulnerabilities regularly.

Security teams should leverage all available tools, such as malware scanners and anti-virus software, to identify and address vulnerabilities.

PCI requirements should be built into daily data security tasks to ensure compliance and protect sensitive information.

Daily data security tasks can include running regular scans and updates to prevent exploitation of known vulnerabilities.

Using service providers can be a great way to outsource certain tasks, but it's essential to understand your responsibilities when it comes to PCI DSS compliance. You're still ultimately responsible for your own PCI DSS compliance, even if you're using service providers.

To ensure your service providers are PCI DSS-compliant, you need to make sure they acknowledge their responsibilities and identify the functions they're performing. Adyen has a trusted list of partners, which includes Zuora, VTEX, and Recurly, but you should also verify the compliance of any other service providers you're using.

You should ask your service provider for their Service Provider's Attestation of Compliance (AoC) and ensure they're registered with the schemes and listed on Visa's Global Registry of Service Providers and Mastercard's Compliant Service Provider List. This will help you manage the relationship with the service provider and maintain your own PCI DSS compliance.

Here are the key responsibilities when using a service provider:

Remember, using service providers does not relieve you of the ultimate responsibility for your own PCI DSS compliance.

You're engaging with service providers to help with payment processing, shopping cart solutions, or subscription billing. This is a common practice among merchants.

Adyen has a trusted list of partners, including Zuora, VTEX, and Recurly, which you can find on their partner page.

To ensure your service providers are PCI DSS-compliant, you need to make sure they acknowledge their PCI DSS responsibilities. This is a crucial step in maintaining PCI DSS compliance.

You are responsible for identifying the functions each service provider is performing, and making sure they are registered with the schemes and listed on Visa's Global Registry of Service Providers and Mastercard's Compliant Service Provider List.

To verify your service providers' PCI DSS compliance, you need to ask for their Service Provider's Attestation of Compliance. This document is essential for maintaining PCI DSS compliance.

Here are the key steps to follow when using a service provider:

Remember, using service providers does not relieve you of the ultimate responsibility for your own PCI DSS compliance. You must manage the relationship with the service provider and monitor their PCI DSS compliance status.

Stripe significantly simplifies the PCI burden for companies that integrate with Checkout, Elements, mobile SDKs, and Terminal SDKs. This is because Stripe handles all payment card data, so the cardholder enters all sensitive payment information in a payment field that originates directly from Stripe's PCI DSS–validated servers.

Stripe acts as a PCI advocate and can help in several ways. They'll analyze your integration method and advise you on how to reduce your compliance burden. For example, if you're using Stripe Checkout, you don't need to worry about storing credit card data.

Here are some ways Stripe can help with PCI compliance:

Stripe's PCI DSS–validated servers handle all sensitive payment information, reducing the compliance burden for companies that integrate with Stripe. This makes it easier for organizations to achieve and maintain PCI compliance.

In-person payments integration is a crucial aspect of providing secure services to your clients.

You have three options to consider: End-to-End Encryption (E2EE), Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE), or Tap to Pay solution.

Each option has its own set of PCI DSS requirements that you must comply with.

For E2EE, you'll need to provide specific documentation to meet the requirements.

P2PE also has its own set of documentation requirements that you should be aware of.

Tap to Pay solution has its own unique set of requirements, and you'll need to provide the corresponding documentation.

By understanding these options and their requirements, you can ensure a smooth and secure in-person payments integration process.

Cloud providers operate under the shared responsibility model, which means both the provider and customer must achieve compliance for certain aspects. This model makes cloud PCI compliance a complex endeavor for many organizations.

The cloud provider must meet basic PCI compliance rules to ensure physical security for their data centers and regularly audit the backend infrastructure for security issues. Most cloud providers meet these requirements.

The bulk of the responsibility for PCI compliance lies with the organization using the cloud. Many organizations use automation to implement and assess PCI controls in the cloud environment. Automation helps achieve continuous visibility into compliance and maintain compliance without disrupting productivity.

Cloud users implement network controls such as intrusion detection and firewalls, which can be implemented through third-party solutions. Most cloud vendors offer security controls such as encryption as a native feature.

Major cloud vendors provide automated tools that help continuously validate that your PCI controls are in place. These tools can also notify when a control is removed.

The PCI DSS has twelve requirements for compliance, organized into six related groups known as control objectives. These requirements have not changed since the inception of the standard.

Each requirement and sub-requirement is divided into three sections: PCI DSS requirements, Testing, and Guidance. The PCI DSS version 4.0.1 has the following twelve requirements:

To achieve PCI compliance, it's essential to know which requirements apply to your organization. There are four different PCI compliance levels, typically based on the volume of credit card transactions your business processes during a 12-month period.

Compliance levels are determined by the number of transactions processed by an organization, with Level 1 being over 6 million transactions annually. This level has the most complex compliance requirements, while Level 4 has fewer than 20,000 transactions per year and requires less stringent measures.

The PCI DSS compliance levels are categorized into four levels, each with its own set of requirements. Here's a breakdown of the levels:

Compliance with PCI DSS standards is essential for building trust with customers, reducing data breach risks, and fostering smooth third-party relationships.

Compliance levels are determined by the number of transactions processed by an organization. PCI DSS compliance levels are linked to the number of transactions processed by the organization.

There are four categories or levels of PCI compliance, each with its own set of requirements. Level 1 organizations process over 6 million credit card transactions per year.

Here's a breakdown of the levels:

As you can see, the levels are based on the number of transactions processed by the organization. This helps to reduce the burden on small businesses and organizations that rely less on credit card processing.

Compliance with PCI-DSS standards has numerous benefits that go beyond just meeting regulatory requirements. One of the main benefits is that it builds trust with customers, who assess companies based on their honesty, openness, and commitment to security.

A company that is PCI-DSS compliant sends a strong signal that it respects customer privacy, which is a major draw for customers. This can lead to sustained customer loyalty.

Compliance is a dynamic process that requires companies to stay up-to-date with the latest security tools and trends. This means that IT teams will constantly be updating their systems to stay compliant and meet PCI standards.

By complying with PCI standards, a company reduces its data breach risk, making it harder for external attackers to access the cardholder data environment. This is a major concern for online retailers, who can't afford to have their customers' data compromised.

Compliance with PCI-DSS standards also builds internal knowledge and experience, which can be applied to other regulations such as HIPAA or GDPR. This can help companies navigate complex regulatory landscapes.

Finally, PCI compliance makes it easier to collaborate securely with other companies, as it demonstrates a focus on protecting payment card industry data. This can make a company a more attractive partner for third parties that require PCI compliance as a condition for working together.