Fraud Prevention

New PCI Compliance Standards Take Effect

The Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council recently released a new version of its Data Security Standard (DSS), making minor but important changes and clarifications to the PCI compliance standard that responsible online merchants follow to protect their customers and avoid fines. On November 25 and December 17, 2008, the PCI Security Standards Council will host a series of complimentary webinars to explain the changes to the PCI standards. A Man Shops Online.

Many of the changes were clarifications or expansions, but there are also new more detailed testing standards for some network situations.

Leading credit card brands (American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB International, MasterCard Worldwide, and Visa Inc.) formed the PCI Security Standards Council to provide a public forum for the development of the data security standards and best practices that make online commerce safe. The standards are not laws or regulations. Instead, they are industry-imposed rules to protect the integrity and confidentiality of credit card information. Online stores that don’t comply with the PCI standards put their customers at risk and can receive industry-imposed fines or suffer other punitive action.

“Any retailer that accepts, transmits, processes or stores payment cardholder data must be compliant with the PCI Data Security Standard. Understanding the requirements and what is expected from retailers is a key first step to educate one’s organization about the Standard. This upcoming webinar is intended to further educate the retailer base about the Standard and what it means to them,” said Bob Russo, General Manager, PCI Security Standards Council.

PCI DSS Webinars

Merchants interested in the new (1.2) version of the PCI DSS can attend a free online presentation on November 25, 2008 at either 11:30am or 7:30pm EST. The sessions will be repeated on December 17, 2008 at 10:30am and 8:30pm EST.

12 PCI DSS Requirements

According to the Council, “the PCI DSS is a multifaceted security standard that includes requirements for security management, policies, procedures, network architecture, software design and other critical protective measures.” There are 12 PCI DSS requirements that merchants must meet. These 12 requirements fall under six broad categories, as follows.

Build and Maintain a Secure Network

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

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

Protect Cardholder Data

Requirement 3: Protect stored cardholder data.

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

Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program

Requirement 5: Use and regularly update anti-virus software.

Requirement 6: Develop and maintain secure systems and applications.

Implement Strong Access Control Measures

Requirement 7: Restrict access to cardholder data by business need-to-know.

Requirement 8: Assign a unique ID to each person with computer access.

Requirement 9: Restrict physical access to cardholder data.

Regularly Monitor and Test Networks

Requirement 10: Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data.
Requirement 11: Regularly test security systems and processes.

Maintain an Information Security Policy

Requirement 12: Maintain a policy that addresses information security.

PCI Compliance Resources

Armando Roggio
Armando Roggio
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