Your Guide to PCI DSS Compliance for Online Payments

PCI compliance means following the PCI DSS, a set of rules for data security. All businesses that handle credit card data must be compliant. This helps stop a data breach and protects customer money.

The PCI SSC (Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council) is a group that makes and manages the PCI DSS rules. The big credit card companies started it to create one set of security standards for the whole world.

PCI compliance started in 2004. Before that, each major credit card company had its own rules. They all came together to create one set of rules to keep online payments safe for everyone.

It’s needed to protect cardholder data and prevent a data breach. By following these rules, businesses, including small businesses, can keep their customers’ money and information safe. This helps them build trust.

Being PCI compliant helps you avoid fines and shows customers you care about data security. It protects your business from losing money and customers due to a data breach. This trust is key for your brand.

If you don’t follow the rules, you can face big fines, lawsuits, and a bad name. A data breach can make customers lose trust in you and can cause huge problems for your business.

The fines for not following the PCI DSS can be very large. They can be thousands of dollars a month. Your bank usually charges these fines, which come from the credit card companies.

If you don’t report your compliance status each year, you can get fined. You might even lose your ability to accept credit card payments. All businesses, even small businesses, must do this to stay safe.

The 12 rules of PCI DSS are about keeping cardholder data safe. They tell you to use a firewall, protect stored data, use encryption, and have strong passwords. You also need to control who can see data and watch your network for problems.

There are four levels of PCI compliance. Your level depends on how many credit card payments you handle in a year. The levels start at the highest for businesses with over 6 million payments and go down for businesses with fewer payments.

You find your merchant level by counting the credit card payments your business processes in a year. Your bank can help you find out your level. This level tells you which specific rules you must follow.

A payment gateway takes online payments and sends the data to the payment processor. The payment processor is the one that actually moves the money from the customer’s bank to yours.

The main groups are the PCI SSC, businesses like yours, service providers, banks, and two types of security experts: Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs) and Approved Scanning Vendors (ASVs). Everyone works together to protect the cardholder data environment.

An SAQ is a form that a business fills out to check its own PCI compliance. It has a set of questions to make sure you are following all the security standards. The type of form you use depends on how your business handles credit card data.

An ASV is a company approved by the PCI SSC to check your network for security flaws. This vulnerability scanning is a key rule for many businesses. It helps you find and fix weak spots.

PCI compliance is a rule for protecting credit card data. SOC 2 is a broader set of rules for how a service company manages any customer data. SOC 2 is not required, but PCI DSS is a must for all businesses that handle card payments.

The four steps are:
1) Assess: Find out where you store cardholder data.
2) Remediate: Fix any security holes you found.
3) Report: Send in your completed forms, like the SAQ or AOC.
4) Maintain: Keep an eye on your security all the time.

The documents you need depend on your merchant level. You’ll likely need to submit a completed Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) and an Attestation of Compliance (AOC). For bigger businesses, a Report on Compliance (RoC) is needed.

Some good practices are to check for risks often, use encryption to protect data, and limit who can see customer information with access control. You should also have a clear security policy and regularly check your network for weak spots with vulnerability scanning.

If you use a compliant service provider, like a payment gateway, it makes your own job easier. You can use their compliance to meet some of the rules for you. This can lower the work and cost of your own compliance process.

PCI DSS 4.0 is the latest version of the rules. It gives businesses more freedom in how they meet the rules. It also has new rules for online payments, such as stronger multifactor authentication and more frequent checks on security.

The new rules for PCI DSS 4.0 had deadlines in two steps. The first new rules became required in March 2024. The next set of new rules will be a must by March 2025. This gives businesses time to get ready.

The new rules mean businesses, including small businesses, must use better tools to watch their networks. This helps them see and react to possible threats right away. It’s about spotting problems faster.

PCI DSS 4.0 has stronger rules for passwords and multifactor authentication. It requires MFA for everyone who has remote access to the cardholder data environment. It also sets new rules for how long and complex passwords must be.

Yes, every business that accepts online payments or a credit card must be PCI compliant. Even small businesses that have a low number of payments must follow the rules for their specific merchant level.

Some Microsoft services that follow PCI DSS rules are Microsoft Azure, Microsoft OneDrive, and Microsoft SharePoint Online. They have been checked to make sure their security meets all the rules.

Microsoft’s services are certified as compliant under PCI DSS version 4.0. This means their systems are up to date with the newest security standards to help their customers stay secure.

Microsoft’s services are certified at Service Provider Level 1. This is the highest level of compliance for service providers. It means their services meet the strictest security standards.

Customers can get an Attestation of Compliance (AOC) and a Report on Compliance (RoC) from Microsoft. These papers can cut down the work and cost for a business to get its own certification.

No, just using a compliant Microsoft service does not make a business PCI compliant. Even with a Level 1 provider like Microsoft, the business is still in charge of its own compliance. They must make sure their setup follows all the PCI DSS rules.