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Everything You Need to Know About PCI-DSS Compliance

By January 10, 2021No Comments6 min read
PCI-DSS Compliance

The PCI DSS are security standards that are developed by American Express, JCB International, MasterCard, and Visa. The main aim of this security compliance is to protect debit and credit transactions from data theft and fraud.

If you are processing debit or credit transactions, then you need to follow this compliance. Most companies PCI certification as one of the best ways to protect their data. You can use these guidelines for protecting your customer data from attackers.

Importance of PCI DSS Compliance

If you are following PCI DSS compliance, then it simply means that you are protecting your customer data. Data theft is a regular occurrence that happens at small businesses. Most SMBs don’t have access to good security tools. Thus, it is very difficult for them to protect their data from attackers.

More than 74% of small businesses have experienced a security breach in the last year. It is very important to protect your user’s data from attackers. You should follow the best security regulations for protecting your data.

PCI DSS Certification

PCI certification will ensure that the payment data of your customers will go through a set of requirements. Some of the best practices that you need to follow are:

  • Firewalls
  • Use data encryption software
  • Anti-virus software
  • Use access controls for restricting the use of cardholder data
  • Monitor your network and systems

PCI regulations will provide a valuable asset to your business. You can use these regulations for protecting your business from attackers. It will protect your business in both reputational and monetary terms. The cost of non-compliance is enough to follow these security regulations.

A data breach will reveal your customer data to the attackers. If you are violating the PCI DSS regulations, then it will result in fines. Also, you need to deal with reduced sales and reputation loss.

You might need to stop accepting credit and debit card transactions after a data breach.

PCI DSS Requirements:

If you want to become PCI-DSS compliant, then you should follow these requirements:

  1. Install a firewall configuration for protecting your customer’s data

You should install firewalls in all your systems. Firewalls will help you in protecting your data from attackers. It will ensure that your network is protected from malicious traffic. The firewall will act as the bouncer of your network.

  1. Protect the processed cardholder information

You should include a data disposal and retention policy for maintaining the integrity of your data. Make sure that your data management policies are up-to-date. You should never store some data like magnetic strip content, PIN, and a card verification number.

  1. Encrypt cardholder data

You should encrypt cardholder data even when you are transmitting it. This is very important as you might be using open and public networks. Thus, attackers can steal data from these networks. You should encrypt all the data even if it is not stored in your systems.

  1. Use anti-virus software

Anti-virus will help you in protecting your systems from most of the known viruses. Thus, it is a good idea to use anti-virus software for protecting your network. It will block Trojans, worms, and viruses from your systems. If you are not updating your anti-virus software, then it will become useless. Thus, you should properly maintain your anti-virus software.

  1. Build stable systems and software

You should ensure that all your software is up-to-date. Software developers will fix bugs in their software. It will protect your business from the latest known vulnerabilities. If you are not updating your software, then attackers can use known vulnerabilities for attacking your business.

  1. Restrict access to sensitive data

You should ensure that only important people have access to your sensitive data. Access should be given to people that need this data for doing their work. This will help you in protecting your cardholder data from insider threats.

  1. Use Access controls

You should assign a different ID to your users. Also, you should specify the systems and data that they can access. Your employees don’t need access to all the systems. Thus, you should proper access controls for providing access to your employees. If your employees need access to more data or systems, then they can contact your IT admin.

  1. Restrict physical access

Data loss can also occur due to physical security breaches. Thus, you should monitor access to your physical records. You should protect your data centers and server rooms by using physical security devices.

  1. Test your security processes

You should regularly test your security processes. This will help you in finding bugs in your network. Penetration testing will also help you in finding vulnerabilities in your network.

  1. Monitor and track your network resources

If you want to protect your business from a data breach, then you should log all access. You can record user activities like permissions, data access, and failed login attempts. Also, you can easily change the security mechanism that you are using. You should also update these reports after some regular interval of time.

  1. Create a security policy

You should create a security policy for protecting your data. Also, you should review this policy every year. The risk environment is changing with time and it is important to update your security plan. You should do a risk assessment as it will help you in finding the cyber threats. Also, you should work on creating an incident response plan. This plan will help you in mitigating most of the cyber threats.

Conclusion

PCI-DSS compliance is very important for businesses that are dealing with credit and debit card transactions. You should ensure that you are protecting your data from attackers. These tips will help you in following PCI DSS compliance. However, most SMBs can’t follow these regulations as they don’t have access to security professionals. Thus, you should consider working with a good MSSP. Experienced MSSPs like Bleuwire will ensure that your business is following all the relevant security regulations. If you need more information regarding security compliance, then you can contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™  services and solutions in how we can help your business.