COMPLIANCE

Whether you’re a credit union, bank, hospital, merchant, hotel, or restaurant—or any other business or organization handling payment card data, you need to be compliant with PCI DSS. PCI DSS is a set of industry standards designed to protect payment card data.

PCI DSS 3.2 introduced the need for multi-factor authentication for any personnel with need for administrative access to the Cardholder Data Environment. The deadline for businesses to adopt PCI DSS 3.2 was February 2, 2018. Since achieving and maintaining PCI DSS compliance is an ongoing process, you can still get on board.

Comprised of 12 broad requirements, the six key areas, control objectives, and requirements are:

1. Build and maintain a secure network

• Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data
• Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters

2. Protect cardholder data

• Protect stored cardholder data
• Encrypt transmissions of cardholder data across open, public networks

3. Maintain a vulnerability management program

• Use and regularly update anti-virus software
• Develop and maintain secure systems and applications

4. Implement strong access control measures

• Restrict access to cardholder data by business need-to-know
• Assign a unique ID to each person with computer access
• Restrict physical access to cardholder data

5. Regularly monitor and test networks

• Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data
• Regularly test security systems and processes

6. Maintain an information security policy

• Maintain a policy that addresses information security for all personnel

More information on the PCI DSS standard can be found here.