The PCI DSS or the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard contains a list of requirements that all companies should abide by to process, store, or transmit the users' credit card information. In the year 2006, to process transactions in a secure environment and manage PCI security standards.
PCI SSC or the PCI Security Standards Council is an independent body responsible for administering and managing PCI DSS and was created by MasterCard, JCB, Visa, American Express, and Discover. For enforcing compliance, PCI SSC is not responsible, but the acquirers and the payment brands are.
To enforce safe transactions and card data protection, comprehensive standards have been established by the PCI Security Standard Council. This contains tools, supporting resources, frameworks, and measurements set to keep the card holder's information protected at all times. Also, to prevent any security incidents, even if it happens, detect and react appropriately to the same.
As mentioned above, PCI SSC contains tools and resources to help the organizations carry out secure transactions. Let us understand what they are:
Various Public resources like the ISA or the Internet Security Assessor education program, PA-QSA's or the Payment Application Qualified Security Assessors, ASV's or the Approved Scanning Vendors and the QSA's or the Lists of Qualified Security Assessors.
Firewalls are used to block any malicious or foreign entities from accessing confidential data. The prevention mechanism is the first layer of defense against the obnoxious activities of hackers. So, firewalls are an essential prerequisite for PCI DSS because they are highly effective in barring unauthorized activity or access.
Now, most of the routers, POS (Point of sale) systems, modems, third-party products by default use a generic password that the general public can easily guess. In most cases, the businesses don't pay attention to these loopholes. Thus, following PCI DSS Compliance, securing the devices and software with a strong password is of utmost importance. Moreover, basic configurations like a change in the password must be enforced.
This requires the implementation of two-fold protection. Moreover, specific algorithms are used to encrypt card holder's data; the encryption keys are also encrypted as per the compliance standards. Another measure that can be taken in this regard is ensuring that there is no unencrypted data, regularly updating and scanning the Primary account numbers (PAN).
As we know that the cardholder's data is accessed via multiple channels like a home office, local stores, payment processors, etc., this data should be encrypted and only sent to the known locations.
One should make use of good antivirus software and regularly update it. Though, antivirus is required on all those devices that interact with or store PAN. Moreover, in cases where antivirus cannot be installed directly, the POS system providers must provide appropriate measures.
Whatever software you use in your business must be regularly updated, particularly firewalls and antivirus software. These updates are essential as they incorporate better security measures to deal with the vulnerabilities in the web world. This is especially important for all those devices and software that interact with other devices or store cardholders' confidential data.
The roles in an organization should be clearly defined, i.e., the staff, executives, third parties allowed to access card holder's data must be well documented and updated timely.
The cardholder's data is stored physically and should be done at a secure place like a room, drawer, or cabinet. Access should be strictly limited to authorized personnel only.
All the executives or individuals who have access to card holder's data must be assigned unique id or credentials to authorize access. For instance, if multiple employees access the confidential data, separate unique IDs must be provided. This will create lesser vulnerability and a quick reaction if some compromise happens.
Any employee working with cardholders' data or PAN (Primary account numbers) must input an entry. This is one significant issue that the companies face; they lack proper records and documentation about who accessed the sensitive data. As per the compliance standards, how the data flows in an organization and the number of times the confidential data can be accessed must be clearly defined with utmost accuracy.
PCI DSS Compliance suggests that the systems or the software which are outdated, have gone malfunctioned, suffered due to human errors must be rectified. Moreover, regular testing and scanning limit vulnerabilities.
The place where the data has been stored, how data flows in an organization, details of the inventory, data access logs, etc., need to be documented.
Abiding by the PCI Security standards might seem challenging, particularly for more influential organizations, where there are vast data volumes. But, with the right tools in hand, it won't be as troublesome as it seems.
Moreover, it avoids severe and long term consequences in the long term. PCI Compliance helps you keep your systems secure, which boosts customers' trust in you and your organization. It also helps in improving your company's reputation.
