PCI DSS compliance is something every business that accepts debit or credit cards should know about. Whether you run a cybersecurity company in Miami like we do or a small restaurant, it’s your responsibility to maintain compliance.
A 2023 report from Verizon found that just 43% of companies remained compliant.
If you’re not compliant and are found not to be, you may face hefty fines and penalties for your lack of security measures.
What is PCI Compliance?
The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council creates PCI regulations that all merchants must follow if they offer card transactions. Whether you process one or a million cards a month, you must maintain these strict compliance standards.
Four levels of compliance exist, depending on your business’s size or transactions.
- Level 1 businesses accept 6+ million Visa transactions. Visa has the right to put any business at Level 1 compliance, so you may need to meet these requirements even if you don’t meet the transaction requirements.
- Level 2 businesses accept 1 – 6 million transactions each year.
- Level 3 businesses process 20,000 – 1 million transactions annually.
If you have a lower transaction process number, you’ll fall within the Level 4 classification.
Requirements
You can read through all of the PCI DSS requirements in the reference guide, but the general requirements are:
- Protect cardholder data and information with a firewall.
- Avoid using default passwords that are in place by vendors and change them to something more secure.
- To the best of your ability, protect cardholder data that is exchanged with you.
- Install and maintain antivirus and anti-malware software.
- Restrict any access to the cardholder’s data to a need-to-know basis with strict security measures in place.
- Encrypt all data transactions for the cardholder.
- Applications and systems that are developed must be secure and maintained.
- Physical access to cardholder information must be restricted.
- Test security processes and systems.
- Personnel with access to systems must be able to be identified and a unique ID attached to their access.
- Monitor and track all network resources and access.
- Maintain information security policies for all contractors and employees that you use.
Why Compliance is Rigorous
Businesses should remain compliant because data breaches are prevalent in the retail world. Consumers should know that when they conduct business with your company, all of their data is safe and secure.
While compliance doesn’t guarantee that a data breach will never occur, it shows that you have made an effort to keep transactional information safe.
Noncompliance can cost your business up to $100,000 per month. Payment processes can also opt not to conduct business with you if you remain noncompliant. Losing the ability to accept debit or credit cards will have a major impact on your revenue, considering 678 billion transactions involved credit cards in 2022.
If you’re trying to become compliant, don’t know if you meet industry standards, or need assistance with cybersecurity in Miami, we can help.
Contact us to learn how we can help you maintain strict compliance requirements.