PCI (or Payment Card Industry) compliance refers to technical and operational requirements for merchants to safeguard their customers payment card information. It involves adherence to security requirements, including policies and procedures, software design, and network architecture. The rules are set by the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) to protect cardholder data.
PCI compliance is mandatory for many merchants and acquirers but is only required if you receive, store, or process the customer’s Primary Account Number (PAN) or main credit card number.
The PCI DSS follows common-sense steps that mirror security best practices, including:
- Access – Analyzing business processing logic, cardholder data for any vulnerabilities that expose the cardholder’s details.
- Remediation – Fixing vulnerabilities and avoiding storage of cardholder’s data if not required.
- Reporting – Compilation and submission of remediation records to acquiring banks and card companies.
Major Benefit of PCI Compliance
Peace of Mind
PCI DSS compliance affords you increased peace of mind. Knowing that your organization is following a comprehensive industry standard and has done everything it can to ensure the safety and security of your customers’ payment card data means you won’t have to worry excessively about potential vulnerabilities within your system.
Better Customer Relationships
Achieving PCI DSS compliance provides an undisputed advantage in the maintenance of customer relationships. By complying with the standards of the PCI DSS framework, you are demonstrating your company’s high value on security. This promotes customer trust and encourages more customers to share their personal payment card information with you.
Universal Principles
Some organizations are deterred by perceived difficulties or costs associated with achieving PCI DSS compliance. The truth is, it is relatively easy. Regardless of the technology you use or the type of business you have, the PCI DSS applies to any company that processes and stores customer payment card data.
Cost-to-Benefit Ratio
Let’s assume your business processes only about 100 credit/debit card transactions annually and you’ve determined that the cost to comply outweighs the benefit. Should a breach occur, are you prepared if the data thief locates one of your security weaknesses and steals the data from all 100 cards?
CommercePundit Can Help Your Business Become PCI Compliant in the Following Ways:
- Identifies if a website is storing credit card or PAN information.
- Shares merchant guidelines and develops websites accordingly to avoid loopholes.
- Works with hosting service providers to build a firewall, access control system, and data encryption infrastructure that complies with the PCI DSS.
As a first step toward compliance, we recommend that your business take the following steps to ensure system security:
- Install a firewall and configure it to protect cardholders data.
- Have EV-SSL (Extended Validation) installed on your website for Secure/Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks.
- Change passwords at regular intervals and do not use those that are system generated.
- Restrict access to cardholders data.
Once the technical infrastructure is in place, CommercePundit can help you locate AVSs (Approved Scanning Vendors) who will scan your network/website at scheduled intervals and make sure there are no loopholes or vulnerabilities.
CommercePundit is proud to partner with vendors like COMODO and TrustWave – sites that offer monthly website scanning services.
Share this post!
