PCI DSS a Pocket Guide

Target dates for compliance with the PCI DSS itself have all long since passed. Many organisations - particularly those that fall below the top tier of payment card transaction volumes - are not yet compliant. There are perhaps three reasons for this. The first is that PCI DSS has no legal status: it is not a law and does not have the force of law. Enforcement can only be carried out by contractual means, in a competitive payment card market place. The second is that enforcement is driven by the card payment brands, through the banks that have the commercial relationships with the merchants that are supposed to comply. Enforcement is inconsistent at best and non-existent at worst. The third is that PCI DSS is extremely prescriptive, and takes a determined one-size-fits-all approach to information security requirements.Compliance is therefore seen as both expensive and bureaucratic. It is not surprising, therefore, that merchants try and avoid compliance with this standard. This is a short-sighted and high risk stance to adopt - rather like assuming that your business has no exposure to acts of nature or IT failure and doesn't, therefore, require a business or IT service continuity plan. All businesses that accept payment cards are prey for hackers and criminal gangs that seek to steal payment card and individual identity details. Many attacks are highly automated, seeking out website and payment card system vulnerabilities remotely, using increasingly sophisticated tools and techniques. When a vulnerability is discovered, an attack can start - without management or staff of the target company having any awareness of what is going on.When the attack is exposed - perhaps through a victim disputing fraudulent credit card charges - the target company will be exposed to a harsh and expensive set of repercussions. These will range from customer desertion and brand damage to significant penalties and operating requirements imposed by their acquiring bank, which will include a future level of monitoring at a level normal only for the very largest of merchants. "PCI DSS" is designed to ensure that merchants are effectively protecting cardholder data. It recognises that not all merchants may have the technical understanding to identify for themselves the necessary steps and short-circuits to avoid danger. All merchants, and their service providers, should therefore ensure that they comply with PCI DSS, and that they stay compliant. Apart from anything else, if every merchant co-operates in the fight against the theft of cardholder data, we might make it easier in the long run for all our payment card customers.

Table of Contents:
CONTENTSChapter 1: What is the Payment Card IndustryData Security Standard(PCI DSS)? ... 11Chapter 2: What is the Scope of thePCI DSS? ... 14Chapter 3: Compliance and ComplianceProgrammes ... 16Chapter 4: Consequences of a Breach ... 19Chapter 5: How do you Comply with theRequirements of the Standard? ... 20Chapter 6: Maintaining Compliance ... 25Chapter 7: PCI DSS - The Standard ... 26Chapter 8: Aspects of PCI DSS Compliance ... 28Chapter 9: The PCI Self-AssessmentQuestionnaire (SAQ) ... 32Chapter 10: Procedures and Qualifications ... 34Chapter 11: PCI DSS and ISO/IEC 27001 ... 38Chapter 12: Payment Application Data SecurityStandard (PA-DSS) ... 40Chapter 13: Pin-Entry Devices (PED) ... 42ITG Resources ... 43

About the Author :
Alan Calder is a leading author on IT governance and information security issues. He is Chief Executive of IT Governance Limited, the one-stop-shop for books, tools, training and consultancy on governance, risk management and compliance.Alan is an international authority on information security management and on ISO27001 (formerly BS7799), the international security standard, about which he wrote with colleague Steve Watkins the definitive compliance guide, IT Governance: A Manager's Guide to Data Security and BS7799/ISO17799. This work is based on his experience of leading the world's first successful implementation of BS7799 (with the 4th edition published in May 2008) and is the basis for the UK Open University's postgraduate course on information security.Other books written by Alan include The Case for ISO27001 and ISO27001 - Nine Steps to Success, as well as several pocket guides in this series. Alan is a frequent media commentator on information security and IT governance issues, and has contributed articles and expert comment to a wide range of trade, national and online news outlets.Nicki Carter gained 12 years' experience in the Ministry of Defence and HMG, four years of which were occupied as an Information Security Adviser for government and MOD information systems. Most significantly, Nicki occupied the position of a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) undertaking Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) assessments. The QSA responsibilities included facilitating scoping workshops, gap/risk analysis activities, and undertaking audits with both high-profile public and private sector companies.