Safer Payments PCI Compliance for Businesses

PCI compliance is a must for businesses that handle credit card payments. This is because the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) sets the standard for securing sensitive payment information.

To achieve PCI compliance, businesses must implement specific security measures, such as using firewalls and encrypting data. These measures are designed to protect cardholder data from unauthorized access.

Businesses must also regularly monitor and test their systems to ensure they are secure. This includes performing vulnerability scans and penetration testing.

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PCI compliance is a standard adopted by major credit card companies like Visa and Mastercard to protect themselves and their merchants from the risks associated with exposed cardholder data. It's not the law, but failing to become compliant can result in non-compliance fees.

PCI compliance is not just a suggestion, it's a requirement for entities that handle payment card account data. Each of the founding payment brand members, including American Express, Discover, JCB International, MasterCard, and Visa, has their own PCI compliance program.

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There are several reasons why PCI compliance is important, including protecting sensitive card data, reducing the risk of data security breaches, avoiding fines and non-compliance charges, and safeguarding your business against card scheme fines. By becoming compliant, you'll also give your customers confidence that you're protecting their sensitive card information.

Here are some key benefits of PCI compliance:

PCI compliance is an important standard adopted by major credit card companies like Visa and Mastercard to protect themselves and their merchants from the risks associated with exposed cardholder data.

PCI compliance, also known as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, or PCI-DSS, is a set of guidelines that merchants must follow to ensure the secure handling of cardholder data.

PCI-DSS is not the law, but rather a suggestion by the major card brands, and failing to become compliant can result in non-compliance fees.

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Becoming PCI compliant is crucial for any business that accepts credit card payments. PCI compliance protects sensitive card data and reduces the risk of data security breaches.

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PCI compliance is not just a suggestion, it's a requirement to avoid fines and non-compliance charges. In fact, failing to become compliant can result in penalties in the form of non-compliance fees.

Here are some key benefits of becoming PCI compliant:

By completing the PCI compliance process, you'll also be less prone to lawsuits related to data breaches and hacks. This is a significant advantage, as data breaches can be costly and damaging to your business's reputation.

In addition to protecting your business, PCI compliance also helps you find vulnerabilities in your system before they're exploited by hackers. This proactive approach to security can save you a lot of time and money in the long run.

Ultimately, becoming PCI compliant is an important step in protecting your business and your customers' data. It's an investment in your business's security and reputation, and it's worth the time and effort required to become compliant.

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In the world of payment security, technical terms can be overwhelming. A glossary of terms is a great resource to help you understand the basics.

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of security standards designed to ensure that all companies that accept, process, store, or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment.

The PCI DSS has 12 main requirements that are divided into six categories: building and maintaining a secure network, protecting cardholder data, maintaining a vulnerability management program, implementing strong access control measures, regularly monitoring and testing networks, and maintaining an information security policy.

A secure network is one that is not easily accessible by unauthorized individuals. This includes firewalls, access controls, and encryption.

Encryption is a way to scramble data so that only authorized individuals can unscramble it.

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The first step to understanding what standards your company needs to follow is to determine which PCI compliance level it falls under. There are four PCI compliance levels based on your company's transaction volume over 12 months.

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Level 1 merchants process over six million transactions annually, while Level 2 merchants process between one and six million transactions. Level 3 merchants process between 20,000 and one million transactions, and all e-commerce merchants fall under this category. Level 4 merchants process less than 20,000 transactions annually.

Here's a breakdown of the four levels:

Understanding your company's PCI compliance level is crucial to ensuring you're meeting the necessary standards to protect sensitive card data.

The Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) is a tool for small to medium-sized merchants and service providers to assess their PCI DSS compliance status. It's a yes-or-no questionnaire that requires entities to indicate their future implementation if they answer "no" to any question.

Each SAQ has a different length depending on the entity type and payment model used. Completing the SAQ can be a daunting task, especially without guidance. Thankfully, there are third-party companies that can walk you through the security process and act as a resource.

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Here are the different types of SAQs:

Completing the SAQ can be a daunting task, but thankfully, there are resources available to help. Some SAQ questions can be misleading and hard to understand, and some questions may lead you to a different SAQ.

You can find guidance from third-party companies like Trustwave, Sysnet, and SecurityMetrics, or from your processor's PCI compliance department. At Evolve Payment, we offer a more boutique approach to the big cybersecurity companies.

The SAQ is a yes-or-no questionnaire, and any "no" response requires the entity to indicate its future implementation. An attestation of compliance (AOC) based on the SAQ is also completed.

Here are the different types of SAQs, as listed on the PCI Security Standards official website:

An Internal Security Assessor (ISA) is an individual who has earned a certificate from the PCI Security Standards Council for their sponsoring organization. This certification empowers them to conduct a self-assessment of their organization's security.

To become an ISA, one must meet the requirements set by the PCI Security Standards Council. The ISA program was designed to help Level 2 merchants meet Mastercard compliance validation requirements.

An ISA can conduct PCI self-assessments for their organization, proposing security solutions and controls for PCI DSS compliance. They are responsible for cooperation and participation with QSAs.

In this role, an ISA must have a deep understanding of the PCI DSS requirements. This knowledge allows them to identify areas for improvement and implement effective security measures.

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PCI compliance, also known as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, or PCI-DSS, is an important standard that major credit card companies like Visa and Mastercard have adopted to protect themselves and their merchants from the risks associated with exposed cardholder data.

It's not the law, but rather a suggestion by the major card brands, however, non-compliance fees are a real possibility if you fail to become compliant.

Here are the key compliance requirements:

A Qualified Assessor is a crucial part of ensuring compliance with PCI DSS standards.

The PCI Security Standards Council maintains a program to certify companies and individuals to perform assessment activities, which is essential for a Qualified Assessor's role.

To become a Qualified Security Assessor, you must be certified by the PCI Security Standards Council, which validates your ability to assess another entity's compliance.

A Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) is an individual certified by the PCI Security Standards Council to validate another entity's PCI DSS compliance, and they must be employed and sponsored by a QSA Company.

QSAs must be employed and sponsored by a QSA Company, which also must be certified by the PCI Security Standards Council, to ensure accountability and expertise.

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Maintaining a comprehensive personnel policy is crucial for any organization, and it's especially important for PCI DSS compliance. This policy must address information security for all personnel.

The policy must be reviewed at least once a year and disseminated to all employees, vendors, and contractors. Users must read the policy and acknowledge it.

Your personnel policy should include employee background checks, which are a requirement for PCI DSS compliance. These checks help ensure that employees are trustworthy and can handle sensitive information.

Incident management is also a critical component of your personnel policy. This involves having a plan in place for responding to security incidents, such as data breaches or unauthorized access.

To ensure compliance, it's essential to perform user awareness training regularly. This training educates employees on the importance of information security and helps prevent security incidents.

Here are the key components of a comprehensive personnel policy:

These components are reviewed by a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) to ensure they are adequately implemented.

To ensure safer payments and PCI compliance, it's essential to implement robust security measures. A key aspect of this is patching vulnerabilities in systems and applications.

Organizations must limit the potential for exploits by deploying critical patches in a timely manner. This includes patching operating systems, firewalls, routers, switches, application software, databases, and POS terminals.

To maintain a secure network, firewalls should be properly configured to protect cardholder data. This involves establishing firewalls and router standards, which allow for a standardized process for allowing or denying access rules to the network.

Firewalls provide the first line of protection for your network, and configuration rules should be reviewed bi-annually to ensure there are no insecure access rules. This is crucial in preventing unauthorized access to the card data environment.

In addition to patching and firewall configuration, regular testing of security systems and processes is vital. This includes conducting wireless analyzer scans, vulnerability scans, and penetration tests to identify and address potential security risks.

Here are some key security measures to consider:

Encrypting cardholder data prior to transmission using secure protocols like TLS and SSH can limit the likelihood of data compromise. This is especially important when transmitting card data across public networks, such as the internet.

Access control is a crucial aspect of PCI compliance. It's all about ensuring that only authorized personnel have access to cardholder data, and that access is granted on a need-to-know basis.

To implement strong access control measures, you must use a role-based access control system, such as Active Directory or LDAP, to assess each request and prevent exposure of sensitive data to those who don't need it.

You need to have a documented list of all users with their roles, including the definition of each role, current privilege level, expected privilege level, and data resources for each user.

Having a unique identifier and complex password for each authorized user is also essential, as it ensures that whenever someone accesses cardholder data, that activity can be traced to a known user and accountability can be maintained.

Two-factor authorization is required for all non-console administrative access, including remote access.

To implement strong access control measures, organizations must be able to allow or deny access to cardholder data systems based on business need to know. This concept is fundamental to PCI DSS.

Access control systems, such as Active Directory or LDAP, must assess each request to prevent exposure of sensitive data to those who do not need this information. Organizations must have a documented list of all users with their roles who need to access card data environments.

This list must contain the definition of each role, current privilege level, expected privilege level, and data resources for each user to perform operations on card data.

To ensure accountability and maintain the security of cardholder data, it's essential to assign a unique ID to each person with computer access.

According to PCI DSS Requirement 8, shared/group user and passwords should not be used. Every authorized user must have a unique identifier.

Passwords must be adequately complex, which means they should be difficult for others to guess.

Two-factor authorization is required for all non-console administrative access, including remote access.

Restricting physical access to sensitive areas is crucial for protecting cardholder data. This involves implementing measures such as using video cameras and electronic access control to monitor entry and exit doors of physical locations.

Unauthorized personnel could gain access to critical systems and cardholder data without proper physical access controls. This is why it's essential to use video cameras and electronic access control.

To monitor entry and exit doors, you should retain recordings or access logs of personnel movement for a minimum of 90 days. This helps in identifying any suspicious activity.

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You need to implement an access process that allows distinguishing between authorized visitors and employees. This includes having separate entry points or procedures for each group.

All removable or portable media containing cardholder data must be physically protected. This means keeping them in a secure location, such as a locked cabinet or safe.

Audit trail records must meet a certain standard in terms of the information contained. This includes time synchronization, which ensures that all records are accurate and consistent.

Security Information and Event Monitoring tools (SIEM) can help log system and network activities, monitor logs, and alert of suspicious activity. This provides an additional layer of security and helps in detecting potential threats.