Navigating Through Choppy Waters of PCI DSS Compliance

Abstract

PCI Data Security Standard is increasingly becoming one of the major compliance requirements all organizations are concerned about. This chapter taking a holistic approach, provides an overview of various components of PCI DSS. We discuss various versions of PCI DSS and the industries affected by this standard, the scope and requirements to comply and hesitation on part of most companies to imbibe it. We also look at the high-profile credit card breaches which have occurred recently and their impact on concerned industries. Additionally, we focus on the challenges faced by financial institutions to effectively meet PCI DSS requirements. Based on our analysis of different requirements of PCI DSS, challenges faced by organizations and recent security breaches of companies which were PCI DSS complaint at the time of breach, we propose recommendations to help organizations secure their cardholder data beyond the achieved compliance in place.