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PCI DSS Version 3.2.1 Published by PCI Security Standards Council

The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) published a minor revision to version 3.2 of its Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). On 17 May, PCI SSC published PCI DSS version 3.2.1. The purpose of the update was to clarify organizations' use of the Standard and when they would need to upgrade their use of common cryptographic...
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3 Key Challenges To Being PCI 3.2 Compliant and How To Resolve Them

The latest revision to PCI DSS, PCI 3.2, provides specific security guidance on the handling, processing, transmitting and storing of credit card data. PCI 3.2 presents an opportunity for retail, healthcare, finance and hospitality organizations to minimize the theft, exposure and leakage of their customer’s personal and financial credit information...
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Jumpstarting Your Cyberdefense Machine with CIS Controls V7

Amidst the volatility, uncertainty and noise of the cybersecurity field, few best practice frameworks have emerged as consistently reliable and useful as the Center for Internet Security (CIS) Security Controls. Recently updated as version 7.0, the CIS Controls represent the most important security controls that an organization must implement to...
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Putting PCI-DSS in Perspective

Much attention and excitement within the security world has recently been focused on the lucrative surge in crypto-mining malware and hacks involving or targeting cryptocurrency implementations themselves. Yet the volume of ‘real world’ transactions for tangible goods and services currently paid for with cryptocurrency is still relatively niche in...
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A Guide to PCI DSS Merchant Levels and Penetration Testing

To distinguish the size of merchant companies and appropriately determine the level of testing required, the founding credit card companies created four different brackets ranging from Tier 1 to 4. Each tier is based on the number of transactions processed per year by the merchant and also dictates the testing a merchant must undertake. While...
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Are You PCI Curious? A Short History and Beginner’s Guide

When I was a kid and we would go out to dinner, my dad would often pay using a credit card. The server would come over with an awkward, clunky device, put the credit card in it, and scan the card. By scan, I mean make an impression of the numbers on a piece of paper with a carbon receipt, which he would then sign and each party would get a copy. There were no wires, no electronic transmissions of...
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Integrity: The New "I" in PCI Compliance

The retail industry saw more than its fair share of data breaches in 2017, with security incidents impacting at American supermarket chain Whole Foods Market and clothing companies Brooks Brothers, The Buckle, and Forever 21, to name a few. At least some of those events likely resulted from retailers' poor data breach preparation. Consider the fact...
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5 Things You Should Know about PCI DSS Penetration Testing

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) was introduced to provide a minimum degree of security when it comes to handling customer card information. While the Standard has been around for over a decade, penetration testing has only recently been officially incorporated into the process. There’s a lot to cover in a PCI DSS...
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Half of Organizations Fail to Maintain PCI Compliance, Finds New Report

Nearly half of organizations that store, process or transmit card data are still failing to maintain PCI DSS compliance from year to year, reveal new statistics. According to the 2017 Verizon Payment Security Report, the number of enterprises becoming fully compliant is on an upward trend—growing almost five-fold since 2012. Last year, 55.4 percent...
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Breaking Out of the Checkbox with PCI 3.2 Compliance

Since 2004, merchant companies that handle branded credit cards have worked to maintain compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). These regulations, which consist of six fundamental control objectives and 12 core requirements, aim to protect payment card data for customers. They also help card issuers and banks...
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PCI 3.2 and The Regulation Storm

There is never a dull moment for compliance and security. Case in point, amidst a brewing storm of regulation, version 3.2 of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) announced in late spring articulates good data security intent along with controversy. PCI has been around since 2006, and aims to protect payment data for consumers...
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Delaying PCI 3.1: Time to Dance the Compliance and Security Waltz

The recent announcement from the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) that it will be moving the PCI 3.1 deadline to June 2018 – giving an extra 24 months – caught my attention and reminded me of the ongoing dance between compliance and security. From a compliance and operational standpoint, the new deadline gives organizations...
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Keeping Up with PCI DSS 3.1

Earlier this year, the PCI Security Standards Council officially released PCI DSS 3.1 only months after its predecessor (version 3.0) came into effect. With a typical three-year period between standard revisions, the out-of-band update caught many off guard, especially organizations still in the process of complying with the changes from the...
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80% of Retailers Failed Interim PCI Compliance Assessments

Despite retailers’ continuous improvement in compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) security standards, four out of five companies are still failing at interim assessments, according to Verizon’s latest report. The report highlights that the overall state of compliance grew significantly in 2014, with 20 percent of organizations...