PCI Dss Compliance Standards help keep your credit card transactions safe
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is a worldwide information security standard which oversees PCI Dss compliance. It was assembled by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC). The compliance standards were created to help organizations that process card payments prevent credit card fraud. Look for companies that adhere to these compliance standards. It means that strict standards are applied to the organizations, which hold, process, or pass your cardholder information from any of your cards.
Organizations handling large volumes of transactions must have their PCI DSS compliance assessed by independent assessors commonly referred to as QSA or Qualified Security Assessor. Enforcement of the compliance is done by the bodies holding relationships with the in-scope organizations. So organizations processing Visa or MasterCard transactions recognize PCI DSS compliance. Look for banking and credit card institutions that recognize these standards to protect your bottom line. In today’s computer focused world, it is imperative that you protect your money and your identity.
Strong authentication protects your identity. Strong authentication means that a special procedure for authenticating your identity is put into motion before a third party can access your information. For instance, when you call your bank in order to obtain you balance and you are asked for a personal code or personal information that is pertinent to you after you have given your pin number, strong authentication is being put into play. Strong authentication is smart, for rather than using only a single form of authentication, it requires the addition of a secondary factor, meaning the addition of something the user has or something the user is. For instance, every time a bank customer visits their local ATM machine the first authentication factor is the physical ATM card the customer slides into the machine and the second factor is the PIN they enter.
Online banking security prevents online account fraud and provides real-time risk management solutions that protect online channels. A good online banking security system will support the end-to-end online risk management process with rich analytics and behavior-based modeling. When examining companies, such as credit card companies and banks, make certain that the online banking security system they use offers an analytics-based software solution that addresses the entire risk management lifecycle. Research the different online banking security systems and companies that are out there in order to protect your self, your family, and all of your assets.
Trustwave Releases UTM That Goes to 11
CHICAGO, IL–(Marketwire – 05/31/11) – Trustwave, a leading provider of information security and compliance solutions, has significantly extended the breadth and value of its Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution with the addition of new services that provide critical network protection and address regulatory compliance requirements. Trustwave’s UTM now includes network access control (NAC … PCI Data Security Standards Rock
From 1st October 2009 all merchants processing less than 1 million transactions annually must process using a PCI DSS certified provider or provide certification of their own PCI DSS compliance to their acquirer. This mandate follows changes to Visa’s Account Information Security Programme.
Acquiring banks are required to provide reports to Visa and Mastercard on all merchants with non-compliance issues. The resulting fines levied by the card schemes can be high. Daily fines can be levied and card processing facilities can be suspended if your system subsequently experiences a security breach.
A commonly held myth is that merchants need only to complete a self-assessment questionnaire to become PCI compliant. If they are using their own payment pages merchants need to ensure that they comply with all twelve PCI DSS requirements. Quarterly scans of the business network need to be done if cardholder data is stored, transmitted or processed on the network. This also affects MOTO (mail order / telephone order) merchants that process card payments via a virtual terminal, even if they do not also process payments online.
More information can be found on the PCI Security Standard Council’s website. Merchants can contact their payment service providers who should be able to offer advice based on the merchant’s payment processing package; it may be more convenient and more cost effective to move to a hosted payments package. Merchants can also contact their acquiring banks who can provide checklists of what they require to confirm compliance. PayPoint.net has also issued a guide to getting PCI compliant with information on what steps you need to take to meet the requirements.
About the Author
Rochelle Dancel is Online Marketing Specialist at PayPoint.net
How to pass a PCI card and the security of credit cards for retail POS and Conservation: Background
Information General PCI and security of credit cards
Restaurateurs and their customers have long been enjoying the convenience made by credit cards and debit cards for many years. However, given the high cost of heaven and the incidence of fraud credit card brands such major Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and JCB have taken preventive measures to safeguard their stakeholders.
IBM was the one who invented the magnetic stripe of credit cards in 1968, which became the industry standard. Since the data track is easy to read and reproduce on the magnetic stripe card brands, with all the standards that the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council has built he clearly stated the First Directive ". Do not store track data
The Payment Card Industry (PCI) Standards
The PCI Security Standards Council has adopted a three-pronged approach to protect consumers, banks and retailers / restaurants:
* PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)? covers all entities that store, process or transmit cardholder data: Merchants, restaurateurs, service providers, processors, etc.
Deadline for Compliance: January 2007 (the periods are long past)
That means – Restaurant owners, regardless of the size of their schools, must complete and submit a PCI self-assessment questionnaire their acquisition of the Bank annually.
* PA-DSS (Payment Application Data Security Standard)? involves all the applications used to store, process, or transmit cardholder data as part of authorization or settlement. ( title = "Point of Sale (POS)"> Point-of-Sale (POS) application developers)
The deadlines:
October 1, 2008 – Only software that is compatible with the new standard for payment application security must be used by agents, merchants and payment processors.
October 1, 2009 – Termination of all claims that non-compliant could still use in their environments necessary.
July 1, 2010 – Mandate the use of only claims to support the new standards.
That means – If after the deadline, a merchant / restaurant is not running a PA-DSS validated application, meaning they automatically fail their assessment PCI and could lose their ability to accept credit cards.
* Pin Entry Devices (PED) standard – it covers all developing countries and aims to ensure that the cardholder PINs, and all sensitive information such as key resident, are always protected an accepting device PIN.
Deadline for compliance:
January 1, 2004 – For all the newly acquired target = "_blank" title = "Point of Sale (POS) "> Point of Sale (POS) PIN Entry Devices, they must go through a Visa-recognized laboratory and approved by Visa.
July 1, 2010 – Mandates that each point of sale (POS) EPA shall have passed the test of a PCI recognized laboratory and approved by PCI SSC.
This Means – All merchants / restaurants have two years to replace their old and / or non-approved PED.
The Do with industry payment card (PCI)
* Do routine vulnerability scans of your systems. * You have an awareness training the safety of your employees. * Checks to access the system. * Monitor your system activity logs. * Separated Employees must have access privileges removed. * Install software patches for your system. * Be serious when it comes all the threats, the device responds to incidents plan.
Don'ts of Payment Card Industry (PCI)
* Total of credit card numbers should not be stored or archived. * Do not send credit card information unencrypted. * With Payment Card Industry, it is not just to make you conform to these standards – it is now, you and your customers protected.
What Restaurateurs Get IBD
Given consumers' acceptance of waiting for more of this using credit and debit cards, the restaurant they are validating the privacy of their customers is good business:
Corporate Reputation / Image
In any competitive business – not the restaurant owner does not be appointed as placed where card data was stolen.
Protects ability to accept credit / debit card – By failing to respect and / or violation may endanger the ability of a conservator to accept payments from credit / debit card. There are cases that 80% to 90% of transactions are credit / debit card accounts. Lose the ability to accept your restaurant credit cards, customers reduced.
The impact of laws on privacy
Failure to comply with all rules that discloses the individual data credit card with one of the 40 + states governed by the privacy laws may have double impact on the side of the shopping / restaurant. Be offside with PCI can result in penalties and court costs. Be offside with the State laws on protection is a crime of sanctions may be more serious.
/ Security Policy Compliance
* Make sure you use a PA? DSS or PABP validated system POS * Make sure you use a DEP approved * Have regular safety awareness training for your staff – especially supervisors * Do background checks on anyone who has administrative access to your system * Have a contract "agreement Privacy "with your staff * When you complete your PCI Self Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ), carefully and accurately complete the form and when you are unsure of your answers, just ask * If the PCI compliance gaps are identified, develop a realistic plan to straighten * Maintain controls to ensure compliance maturity * Access controls * In the system and device management, always a factor double * Passwords strong and secure password storage * Monitoring to detect the presence attack and save * Check your wireless access points * Maintain a safe configuration * Networks Segment * Maintain an incident response plan and test * Review and audit of the enabling environment
It can be a daunting task the first go round, but when the above are in place, PCI compliance is not an expensive undertaking. It is good business practice to protect sensitive information that your customers entrust you with.
About the Author
If you would like to know more about this topic or have a question in mind, you may ask for advice with our Restaurant POS professional serving your area.
The author of this article is the Vice President of Customer Relations at POS-for-Restaurants.com with over 20 years experience in the restaurant point of sale industry.
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