How important is PCI DSS?
How important is PCI DSS… very important. PCI DSS stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. This is a set of security guidelines developed by the major credit card companies to help organizations that process card payments prevent credit card fraud. How your credit card information is handled and protected is the result of the PCI Data Security Standard. A company processing, storing, or transmitting payment card data must be in PCI compliance or risk losing their ability to process credit card payments. Merchants and payment card service providers are audited regularly to insure the highest security standards are in place. A few of the requirements to meet the PCI DSS are:
The service provider must build a secure information processing network. This is done by installing firewalls to insulate cardholder data.
Service providers must protect cardholder information by encrypting transmission of cardholder information when it travels across open networks.
High grade anti-virus software must be in place in any service provider network.
Access to cardholder data is restricted to an employee need to know basis. This means that cardholder information is not vulnerable to employee theft.
There are 12 strictly monitored requirements for PCI DSS compliance. These are put in place to protect both issueing banks and card users from theft and fraud.
