What Is PCI Compliance? Requirements & Guide

Achieving PCI compliance can be difficult, but it’s important to understand the basics so you can make your business as secure as possible. In this article, we’ll explain what PCI compliance is, and provide a guide to the requirements and steps you need to take to achieve compliance. Let’s get started!

What Is PCI Compliance?

PCI compliance is a set of requirements that businesses and organizations must adhere to in order to protect credit card data. The PCI Security Standards Council was created in 2006 as a joint effort between Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover to develop and manage the PCI security standards.

The council released the first PCI Data Security Standard (DSS) in January 2007. The standard was updated in April 2010, and again in October 2014.

Achieving PCI compliance can be difficult, but it’s important to understand the basics so you can make your business as secure as possible. Let’s take a closer look at the PCI DSS requirements.

What are the 12 Requirements of PCI Compliance?

The 12 requirements of PCI compliance are:

1. Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data

This  is the first and most important requirement of PCI compliance. A firewall is a system or group of systems that are configured to allow, deny, or regulate the flow of data between two or more networks. Your firewall should be configured to block all traffic from unauthorized sources, and only allow traffic from authorized sources.

2. Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters

This requirement is designed to help protect your systems against unauthorized access. Vendor-supplied defaults are the default settings that are provided by the manufacturer of a product or service. These settings are often weak and easily guessed, so you should change them to something more secure.

3. Protect cardholder data

You must take steps to protect the confidentiality and integrity of cardholder data. This includes protecting cardholder data from unauthorized access, use, or alteration.

4. Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks

This requirement is designed to help protect your systems against interception and tampering. Cardholder data that is transmitted across open, public networks should be encrypted using strong cryptography.

5. Use and maintain a unique account identifier for each individual with access to cardholder data

This requirement is designed to help protect against unauthorized access to cardholder data. You should create unique user IDs and passwords for each individual who has access to cardholder data, and ensure that these IDs and passwords are not shared.

6. Restrict access to cardholder data on a need-to-know basis

This requirement is designed to help protect against unauthorized access to cardholder data. Access to cardholder data should be restricted to those individuals who have a need to know it.

7. Assign a unique security ID to each person with computer access

This requirement is designed to help protect against unauthorized access to cardholder data. You should create unique security IDs for each individual who has computer access, and ensure that these IDs are not shared.

8. Restrict physical access to cardholder data

This requirement is designed to help protect against unauthorized access to cardholder data. Physical access to cardholder data should be restricted to those individuals who have a need to know it.

9. Track and monitor all access to cardholder data

This requirement is designed to help protect against unauthorized access to cardholder data. You should track and monitor all access to cardholder data, and ensure that access is only granted to authorized individuals.

10. Regularly test security systems and processes

This requirement is designed to help protect against unauthorized access to cardholder data. You should regularly test your security systems and processes to ensure that they are effective.

11. Maintain a policy that addresses information security

You should have a written policy that addresses information security. This policy should establish the standards and procedures that you will use to protect your cardholder data.

12. Destroy cardholder data when it is no longer needed

This requirement is designed to help protect against unauthorized access to cardholder data. You should destroy cardholder data when it is no longer needed, and ensure that it is properly destroyed so that it cannot be accessed or used by unauthorized individuals.

BENEFITS OF PCI COMPLIANCE

There are many benefits to complying with the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Some of these benefits include:

1. Reduced risk of data breaches

If you comply with the PCI DSS, you reduce the risk of a data breach. This is because the PCI DSS establishes comprehensive security requirements that help protect your cardholder data.

2. Reduced costs of cardholder data breaches

If a data breach occurs, the costs associated with it can be significant. By complying with the PCI DSS, you can help minimize these costs.

3. Improved security posture

Compliance with the PCI DSS helps improve your overall security posture. This is because the PCI DSS establishes comprehensive security requirements that help protect your cardholder data.

4. Improved customer confidence

When customers see that you are compliant with the PCI DSS, they can have confidence that you take data security seriously. This can help boost your business’s reputation and may lead to increased sales.

5. Increased compliance with other standards

Compliance with the PCI DSS can help you meet other standards and regulations, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. This can help reduce your compliance costs and improve your organization’s overall compliance posture.

6. Increased efficiency

Compliance with the PCI DSS can help you improve your organizational efficiency. This is because it establishes comprehensive security requirements that can help you reduce the amount of cardholder data that is at risk.

7. Reduced legal and compliance risks

Compliance with the PCI DSS can help reduce your organization’s legal and compliance risks. This is because it establishes comprehensive security requirements that can help you protect your cardholder data.

8. Increased ability to manage risk

Compliance with the PCI DSS can help you improve your ability to manage risk. This is because it establishes comprehensive security requirements that can help you identify and mitigate security risks.

9. Improved ability to respond to incidents

Compliance with the PCI DSS can help you improve your ability to respond to incidents. This is because it establishes comprehensive security requirements that can help you quickly identify and address security incidents.

10. Greater peace of mind

Compliance with the PCI DSS can give you greater peace of mind knowing that your cardholder data is protected.

As you can see, there are many benefits to complying with the PCI DSS. By implementing the requirements of the PCI DSS, you can help reduce the risk of data breaches, improve your security posture, and boost your business’s reputation. In addition, complying with the PCI DSS can help you meet other standards and regulations, improve your organizational efficiency, and reduce your legal and compliance risks.