Standardizing security processes for the payment card industry seems logical, but payment processors are required to remain compliant to a strict set of security protocols organized into objective groups:

• Network Security: Build and maintain a secure network, systems, and environment
• Cardholder Information Security: Secure and protect cardholder data
• Contingency Plans: Develop and maintain a Vulnerability Management Program
• Access Control: Outline and implement access control oversight

Are You Compliant?

While compliance is not currently federal law, state laws differ on compliance and violations. It’s not enough to just commit to these protocols, or even to follow the guidelines outlined within each of these objective groups. Full compliance does not require auditing and confirmation of adherence through a validation evaluation process, though data must be secured in a compliant manner.

Navigating Compliance

Failure to remain compliant poses greater risks that violating a handful of laws – in fact, not being PCI DSS compliant impacts everyone. How many data breaches have made the news in the last year, three years, or five years? Every report of a data breach comes with a monetary value of the financial impact of the breach, with some incidents valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.

Aside from the immediate financial repercussions, consumers put more faith in payment processors and merchants that take proactive steps to protect cardholder data – it’s just good business.

Protect consumer data with PCI DSS and protect your reputation.