How to be PCI Compliant: A Quick Guide

In another article, we broke down why PCI compliance is critical for any business handling payment card information. From understanding the information we are trying to protect to understanding the risks of not being compliant, PCI compliance is a non-negotiable part of doing business in today’s digital world.

To recap, the goal of PCI DSS is to safeguard two key types of information:

• Cardholder Data: PAN (primary account number), cardholder name, expiration date, and service code.
• Sensitive Authentication Data: CVV, full magnetic stripe data, or PIN.

Protecting this information is not just a regulatory requirement, it’s a foundational step in building secure systems. But understanding why compliance matters is only half the story. Now let’s focus on how to make your organization and your technical ecosystem PCI compliant.

Start With the End in Mind: Enabling Secure Payments in Your Application

Imagine this: your application is live, users are seamlessly making payments, and their sensitive payment information is handled securely. Your system complies with PCI DSS standards, reducing the risk of breaches while building trust with your customers.

This is the end goal, an application that not only works but also protects payment card information and upholds industry compliance standards. Achieving this vision requires a strategic approach, ensuring that every step moves you closer to a compliant, secure environment where your application can process payments safely.

To make this happen, you’ll need to:

• Map out how payment information flows through your application.
• Identify the compliance level required for your transaction volume.
• Audit your environment for security gaps and address them.
• Implement controls to meet PCI DSS standards.

By keeping this vision in mind, you’ll approach each decision, whether selecting a payment processor, designing information flows, or implementing security measures, with the confidence that you’re building a system that’s both functional and compliant. This ensures your application can accept payments securely and responsibly from day one.

Step 1: Understand Your Architectural Needs as They Relate to PCI

Not every feature you build will require full PCI DSS implementation, so start by assessing your specific needs:

• Map the Information Flow: How does payment information enter, move through, and leave your system? Does it even enter your servers?
• Decide What Information You Need: Minimize your information footprint, if you don’t need to store cardholder data, don’t.
• Leverage Third-Party Solutions where possible: Using platforms like Stripe or PayPal can reduce your PCI scope, as they handle much of the compliance burden for you, but doesn’t fully eliminate it.

This step is about aligning your technical architecture with your business goals while keeping compliance requirements in check.

Step 2: Determine Your Level of Compliance

The PCI SSC sets the standards, but compliance levels are defined by the payment networks (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, and JCB). Your compliance level depends on your transaction volume in a given network. Here’s a summary of the levels:

• Level 1: Over 6 million transactions annually or a previously known breach; requires an annual audit by a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) and periodic scans.
• Levels 2–4: Fewer transactions, requiring yearly attestation of compliance from Self-Assessment Questionnaires (SAQs) and quarterly external network vulnerability scans by an Approved Scanning Vendor.

Each network may have unique thresholds or rules, but understanding your level of compliance ensures you know what’s expected. For example, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover closely align their standards, while American Express has slightly lower thresholds for Level 1 compliance. While determining your level, plan for growth. It would be a pain if you cross the Level 1 threshold in a given year and not do the external audits.

Step 3: Get Familiar With PCI DSS Requirements

PCI DSS is built on 12 core requirements, covering everything from secure networks to access control and logging. Becoming familiar with these helps in two ways:

• If You’re Undergoing an Audit: Know what your assessor will ask and prepare a strong case for your compliance.
• For Simplification: If your level allows it, explore ways to reduce PCI scope, such as leveraging SAQ-A or SAQ-A-EP setups that limit your direct interaction with sensitive information.

Understanding the standards ensures your compliance efforts are efficient and focused.

Step 4: Audit Your Environment

With a clear picture of your compliance level, conduct a detailed audit of your systems. Use the PCI DSS as your guide and checklist as you work through the tech stack and organization.
Based on your compliance level, you can perform this internally or hire external experts to pinpoint gaps and prioritize improvements.

Step 5: Implement Missing Elements

Once you’ve identified gaps, it’s time to act. This might involve:

• Purchasing New Technology like ASV scanning or external network monitoring
• Implementing New Development Practices such as code review, tokenizing information, threat modeling activities
• Migrating Application Code or upgrading libraries to supported versions.
• Strengthening Access Controls with strict role-based permission and multi-factor authentication.
• Conducting Employee Training to ensure teams know how to spot poor handling of payment card information.

Focus on high-risk areas first and document all changes for future reference during audits or attestations.

Step 6: Release Your Feature

With your environment secured and compliant, you’re ready to launch. But compliance isn’t a one-and-done effort. Building features while staying PCI compliant means committing to continuous improvement:

• Schedule regular vulnerability scans.
• Stay updated on evolving PCI standards.
• Reinforce employee training and awareness.

Ongoing vigilance ensures your systems remain secure as your business grows.

Final Thoughts

Building PCI-compliant features may seem complex, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By breaking the process into clear steps, understanding your architecture, identifying your compliance level, auditing your environment, and addressing gaps, you can confidently create secure, compliant features.

Remember, PCI compliance is more than just a checklist. It’s a way to protect your customers, reduce risk, and build trust in your brand. By staying proactive and informed, you’re not only meeting regulations, you’re setting your business up for long-term success.

For more details or resources, visit the PCI Security Standards Council website or consult your payment processor. You’ve got this!

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