PCI DSS Compliance
Payment Card Data Security
What is PCI DSS?
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) defines security requirements for organizations that store, process, or transmit cardholder data.
Its objective is to protect cardholder information against theft, fraud, and breaches, and compliance is mandatory for merchants, service providers, and financial institutions handling payment data.
Key PCI DSS requirements:
- Access Restriction: Limit access to cardholder data based on business need-to-know.
- Authentication: Enforce strong authentication for all system access.
- Audit Logging: Track all access to cardholder systems and data.
- Encryption: Protect cardholder data in storage and transmission.
- Monitoring: Detect and respond to suspicious activity in real time.
How Visual Guard facilitates PCI DSS compliance:
RBAC enforcement:
Restrict access to payment systems and cardholder data according to defined business roles.
MFA authentication:
Enforce multi-factor authentication for all access to payment-related systems.
Immutable audit logging:
Record all activity involving cardholder systems and sensitive operations in tamper-proof logs.
Compliance reporting:
Generate PCI-ready reports to support compliance audits and certification processes.
Anomaly detection:
Monitor access in real time to detect unusual or unauthorized activity.
Detailed technical capabilities
Identity & Access Management
- Centralized IAM with directory synchronization
- Role-based and least-privilege access policies
Authentication Security
- MFA using OTP, biometrics, or smart cards
Audit & Monitoring
- Immutable audit trails with export options
- Real-time monitoring and alerts on anomalies
Security Operations Integration
- Integration with SIEM solutions for fraud detection and monitoring
Use case
Protecting cardholder data in a retail environment
A retail chain must secure customer payment data across applications and point-of-sale systems while complying with PCI DSS requirements.
How Visual Guard helped:
- Enforced RBAC and MFA for all systems accessing cardholder data.
- Logged and monitored payment transactions and administrative activities.
- Generated compliance reports for PCI DSS certification audits.
Result: The retailer reduced fraud risks, secured cardholder data, and maintained PCI DSS compliance.