The primary role of the PCI SSC is to ensure the security of cardholder data and promote the adoption of robust security controls across the payment ecosystem. Compliance with PCI DSS helps ensure that organizations have implemented robust security controls and processes, which contribute to the overall resilience and continuity of the business. In the event of a security incident or data breach, organizations that are PCI DSS compliant are better prepared to respond, recover, and minimize the potential impact on their operations and reputation. While the PCI SSC has no legal authority to compel compliance, it is a requirement for any business that processes credit or debit card transactions. PCI certification is also considered the best way to safeguard sensitive data and information, thereby helping businesses build long lasting and pci dss stand for trusting relationships with their customers.
Requirement 9: Restrict physical access to cardholder data
The first option includes a manual review of web application source code coupled with a vulnerability assessment of application security. It requires a qualified internal resource or third party to run the review, while final approval must come from an outside organization. Moreover, the designated reviewer is required to stay up-to-date on the latest trends in web application security to ensure that all future threats are properly addressed.
Best practice for achieving PCI DSS compliance
The investment in PCI security procedures goes a long way toward ensuring that other aspects of your commerce are safe from malicious online actors. According to the PCI SSC, all participating Payment Brand members have PCI compliance programs to protect their users’ payment card account data. These members include American Express, Discover, JCB International, Mastercard, UnionPay and Visa. While there is not necessarily a regulatory mandate for PCI compliance by law, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is responsible for credit card processing, as it falls under the need for consumer protections. The FTC does mandate parts of PCI compliance protocols through court precedent in order to stop unfair, deceptive or fraudulent practices in the marketplace.
Remote Access in PCI DSS
- The standards apply to any organization that stores, processes, or transmits cardholder data (CHD), including merchants, payment processors, issuers, acquirers, service providers or any other entity within the payment card ecosystem.
- The main objective of PCI DSS is to protect cardholder data and reduce the risk of data breaches or fraud in the payment card industry.
- With credit card fraud, identify fraud and stolen data on the rise, maintaining a safe environment for charge card transactions is of the utmost importance.
- Contractually obligated organizations must meet the requirements of PCI DSS to establish and maintain a secure environment for their clients.
Each SAQ question has a yes-or-no answer, and any „no” response requires the entity to indicate its future implementation. Whether an entity is required to comply with or validate compliance to a PCI SSC standard is at the discretion of organizations that manage compliance programs, such as a payment brand, acquirer, or other entity. The Council was founded in 2006 by American Express, Discover, JCB International, MasterCard and Visa Inc. Founding Members share equally in ownership, governance, and execution of the organization’s work. Each incorporates the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) as part of the technical requirements for their respective data security compliance programs.
Understand the PCI DSS Requirements
The PCI Security Standards Council maintains a program to certify companies and individuals to perform assessment activities. The Global Executive Assessor Roundtable is a forum for senior leadership of PCI Assessor companies to provide advice, feedback, and guidance to the PCI SSC, representing the perspectives of the PCI assessor community. A Board of Advisors, representing and elected by Participating Organizations, provides input to the organization and feedback on the evolution of the PCI Standards.
In addition, the Roadmap Roundtable Group (RRG) works with PCI SSC and the Executive Committee to provide input and direction on PCI SSC strategic initiatives. The PCI SSC is led by a policy-setting Executive Committee composed of representatives from the Founding Members and Strategic Members. Strategic membership is open to multinational payment acceptance brands with demonstrated commitment to PCI Security Standards.
The PCI Token Service Provider (TSP) standard outlines stringent security measures and guidelines for the creation, management, and use of tokens to replace the credit card number, ensuring that these tokens are unique and non-reversible. The final step is a formal review to ensure that you meet all applicable requirements outlined in the PCI DSS standard. Typically, this involves an assessment by a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) or, for smaller businesses, a Self-Assessment Questionnaire. In addition, all individuals whose information is believed to have been compromised must be notified in writing to be on alert for fraudulent charges.
Every organization will have a somewhat different take on who should lead its PCI compliance team, based on its structure and size. Very small businesses who have outsourced most of their payment infrastructures to third parties generally can rely on those vendors to handle PCI compliance as well. At the other end of the spectrum, very large organizations may need to involve executives, IT, legal, and business unit managers. The PCI Standards Security Council has an in-depth document, “PCI DSS for Large Organizations,” with advice on this topic; check out section 4, beginning on page 8.
