It’s not often we can say this, but 2022 is shaping up to be an exciting time in information governance, especially for those interested in compliance and compliance frameworks. We started the year in eager anticipation of the new version of the international standard for information security management systems, ISO 27001:2022, soon to be followed by version 4.0 of the PCI DSS standard.
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a benchmark with tenure in the industry, with the first version being introduced in 2004. The PCI DSS was unique when it was introduced because of its prescriptive nature and its focus on protecting cardholder data. Cybersecurity is a changing landscape, and prescriptive standards must be updated to address those changes. The most recent update to the PCI DSS was in 2018, and the world has certainly changed since then.
Organizations must enact effective third-party risk management (TPRM) programs to ensure their vendors fulfill cybersecurity requirements. Otherwise, they risk carrying the financial and reputational harm caused by customer data breaches. The PCI DSS standard covers aspects of third-party risk management as it's applicable to all organizations that process credit card data, especially the heavily regulated finance industry.
PCI DSS stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. This standard is set forth by the PCI Security Standards Council, an organization founded in 2006 by American Express, Discover, JCB International, Mastercard and Visa Inc. The PCI DSS sets security rules for any business that accepts their cards, with the goal of protecting customer credit and debit card data. Any business that accepts any non-cash payments needs to meet the PCI standards.
PCI compliance is a complicated matter. There are a number of different steps to meet and validate your achievement of the PCI DSS standard. In this guide, we’ll break down the steps in PCI compliance testing, the different types of PCI compliance tests, and how much it costs to complete this process.
Network segmentation is a practice that can dramatically lower the time, effort and cost of a PCI DSS assessment. Not only is it an industry best practice for security cardholder data, but it’s also an effective way of controlling the annual commitment of meeting your PCI compliance requirements. Here’s how network segmentation works, as well as some key best practices for using network segmentation to reduce the scope of your PCI assessment.
PCI compliance applies to businesses of all sizes: In fact, the PCI Council sets compliance standards according to how many card-based transactions a business handles each year. There are four merchant levels are Small businesses usually fall under level four. If you’re not sure what level your business falls into, your point-of-sale (POS) reports may be able to tell you.