PCI compliance

Payment card industry (PCI) compliance is adherence to a set of specific security standards that were developed to protect card information during and after a financial transaction. PCI compliance is required by all card brands.

There are six main requirements for PCI compliance. The vendor must:

1. Build and maintain a secure network

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

2. Protect cardholder data

- Protect stored cardholder data.
- Encrypt transmission 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.

Learn More

Learn why looking at PCI compliance as a checkbox project is not a good idea.

Jeremy Needle, a security consultant at Katana InfoTech, has an excellent introduction to PCI compliance.

Learn more about Industry-specific requirements for compliance

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