PCI compliance is becoming an everyday concern for those businesses apprehensive about vulnerabilities in the consumer payment card transactions processes.In today's card-centric business millions of consumers and businesses utilize various types of payment cards to complete billions of retail purchases and transactions both direct and indirect such as across-counter transactions, on the web, through the mail or over the phone.

1. How to Ensure PCI DSS Compliance – Part 2
PCI compliance is becoming an everyday concern for those businesses apprehensive about vulnerabilities in the
consumer payment card transactions processes. In today's card-centric business millions of consumers and
businesses utilize various types of payment cards to complete billions of retail purchases and transactions both
direct and indirect such as across-counter transactions, on the web, through the mail or over the phone. To have
the right to process payment card transactions, it is essential for retail organizations to comply with the Payment
Card Industry Council's Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). PCI DSS requires organizations to protect cardholders
account information throughout the transaction lifecycle, from the point of sale, data transfer and storage of
account information.
Organizations can safeguard important customer information as well as payment card details, as reducing the
number of security breaches and protecting the card brands is the main aim of PCI. PCI protects against the
negative publicity associated with a data breach and guarantees customer confidence in the use of payment cards.
To be PCI Compliant, companies need to adhere to certain requirements when processing cardholder data.
To be PCI compliant at all times, businesses can purchase sophisticated security equipment, configure it to
minimize the risk and implement a host of policies and protocols to comply with the latest data security standards.
While PCI compliance requirements continue to evolve, they become more confusing to people who are not in the
industry. To make sure your business is compliant, you may start by hiring a qualified security assessor to consult
with you and assess your situation and recommend the right solution. The solution must build and maintain a
secure network, protect cardholder data, maintain a vulnerability management program, implement strong access
control measures, and regularly monitor and test networks.
When making a purchasing decision aimed at PCI DSS compliance look for comprehensive solutions that:
Provide access to data repositories and applications that can be governed inside of the network perimeter
Can provide enforcement of policies and monitoring of user activities for reporting.
Is quick and simple to deploy and manage
Has high transaction processing capabilities so that enterprise-level throughput can be supported
Is flexible and scalable so that changing business priorities and access policies can quickly and easily be
implemented
Is cost-effective so that PCI DSS compliance initiatives can be completed within or under budget.
A good PCI DSS Compliance solution will support a growing number of regulatory requirements and will also
continuously enforce policies consistent with that regulatory requirement. Choose a solution that is capable of
automated monitoring for security vulnerabilities, mapping of security controls for assessing conformance and
gaps, and initiating remediation actions for successfully meeting Compliance requirements.
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