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PCI Compliance Certification Best Practices for Small Businesses

PCI compliance certification best practices are essential for small businesses looking to save thousands of dollars on annual costs associated with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) initiatives. With growing competition and shrinking margins, the last things small businesses need (i.e., merchants and service providers) are heavy compliance costs that consume precious financial and operational resources.  Don’t become a victim of some big-box provider for PCI DSS solutions, there’s a number of ways for saving hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars on PCI compliance for small businesses, so let’s take a look.

It starts with PCI Policies and Documentation

Did you know what one of the biggest and most time-consuming aspects of PCI compliance for small businesses is documentation?  That’s right, developing dozens of information security policies and procedures, forms, checklists – all the necessary PCI DSS documents – can be an enormous task. But not anymore, as pcipolicyportal.com now offers industry leading, all-in-one PCI compliance policy toolkits and templates for merchants and service providers.  Saving time and money has never been easier as our PCI policy toolkits and templates have been written to the exact specifications of the actual PCI DSS requirements. This ensures full coverage of all the necessary PCI mandates. The packets are available for all SAQ requirements and for Level 1 onsite assessments, so visit pcipolicyportal.com today to learn more.

Think about it, who wants to spend endless hours writing PCI policies and procedures for compliance? Perhaps you already have existing information security policies in place – great – but can they map directly to the actual PCI DSS standards, and are they even current with today’s best practices for InfoSec? As you begin to answer these questions, it starts to just make sense that the best avenue is using pre-populated policy templates from pcipolicyportal.com.  Along with policy templates, small businesses will also receive security awareness training materials, risk assessment documents, and more.  Visit pcipolicyportal.com today to learn more about PCI compliance certification best practices for small businesses.

It Continues by Using Cost-Effective PCI DSS Compliance Tools

Speaking of big box compliance providers of security solutions, we have one recommendation for you on them – stay away!  You don’t need to spend a large 5 figure amount for obtaining high-quality PCI DSS security tools for the likes of audit trails/audit logging, file integrity monitoring, intrusion detection systems, scanning, and more.  There are a growing number of providers that are extremely cost-effective, netwatcher.com being one that I really like, in providing great tools at great prices.

Additionally, you can also use open-source tools, which are now readily available for file integrity monitoring, a web application firewall, and more.  The choice is yours on how much money you’ll ultimately want to save.

Hire a PCI DSS Expert for a Few Hours

Need guidance on the actual PCI DSS framework, but don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on consultants? Not a problem, Materdei Consulting, LLC – the founders of pcipolicyportal.com – offers small buckets of PCI DSS compliance consulting services for small businesses starting at just $750 for three (3) hours of consulting. You’d actually be surprised at how much you can learn in just three hours from high-quality PCI consultants, so email us at pci@pcipolicyportal.com to learn more about our services and related fees.

A PCI compliance expert can very quickly help you assess and determine scope, identify gaps and deficiencies that require remediation, recommend any number of security tools, and much more.  Think of us as your PCI go-to-guy whenever you have questions.  Learning more about PCI compliance certification best practices for small businesses begins with our introductory three (3) hour consulting service.

Don’t fall victim to the Scams

Are you getting email, mail, or phone calls from companies saying you have to be PCI complaint NOW or face huge fines? Most of these forms of correspondence are coming from aggressive PCI compliance providers looking to hook you on a monthly service fee. Be careful of such calls, ask the right questions, and find the “real” avenue for completing your annual PCI compliance requirements each year.  So, what is that “real” avenue, it’s often direct correspondence from your acquiring bank, payment processor/payment gateway, so be on the lookout for these organizations contacting you. We hope you’ve found the PCI compliance certification best practices tips and recommendations for small businesses helpful.

Talk to the PCI Compliance Experts for Small Businesses

Wherever you’re located and whatever your business is, if you’re involved in the storage, processing, and/or transmission of cardholder data, then becoming PCI DSS compliant is an absolute must.  Getting there, however, can be a whole different story, particularly for small businesses owners who need to save time and money.  It all starts with documentation, so visit pcipolicyportal.com today and instantly download any number of the PCI compliance policy toolkits and templates from the world’s leading provider of PCI compliance documents.

PCI DSS Best Practices for Merchants for PCI Certification

PCI DSS best practices for merchants consists of businesses understanding a number of key components relevant to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).  While many merchants – and service providers – often get into a costly and time-consuming engagement regarding PCI compliance, it’s something that can often be avoided.  What you need is the knowledge and understanding of the entire PCI DSS landscape, and that begins by taking note of our PCI DSS best practices for merchants.

PCI DSS best practices for merchants consists of businesses understanding a number of key components relevant to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).  While many merchants – and service providers – often get into a costly and time-consuming engagement regarding PCI compliance, it’s something that can often be avoided.  What you need is the knowledge and understanding of the entire PCI DSS landscape, and that begins by taking note of our PCI DSS best practices for merchants.

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards are not going away, in fact, they’ll continue to increase in terms of complexity and security requirements, so now’s the time to get serious about PCI compliance.

PCI Policy Templates for Merchants for Instant Download

Before we get into the PCI DSS best practices list, just a quick note that one of the most time-consuming and demanding requirements for PCI compliance is documentation. More specifically, you need to have in place a wide-range of InfoSec policies and procedures for becoming PCI DSS compliant.  But it’s much more than just policies, it’s also about implementing key operational initiatives, such as performing a risk assessment, undertaking security awareness training, monitoring third-party providers.  These mandates require documentation to fulfill the task, and it’s why pcipolicyportal.com offers PCI policy templates and toolkits for instant download today.

Looking to save hundreds of operational hours and thousands of dollars on PCI DSS compliance, then consider downloading the PCI policy templates and toolkits today. We offer SAQ policy packets, along with documentation for Level 1 onsite audits, so visit pcipolicyportal.com to learn more.  Now, back to the PCI DSS best practices list!

6 Important PCI DSS Best Practices for Merchants/Service Providers

1. Understand the True Intent and Scope of PCI:  Many merchants and service providers start off poorly with PCI compliance largely because they fail to understand the true meaning of what PCI compliance actually means.  Here’s what you need to know. It’s not some simple, check-the-box assessment that can be done in a few hours.  It’s not something you can ignore and pick up on the 11th hour of a deadline and hope to become compliant.  PCI compliance is about a change in culture and ideology for an organization.

It requires a true commitment to understanding today’s security issues, challenges, threats – and best practices – facing businesses.  Additionally, PCI compliance is an assessment process that “can” potentially require a large number of security tools/solutions to be acquired, along with developing a wide-range of PCI policies.  Both the technical and documentation aspect of PCI compliance can become challenging, so keep this in mind.  Bottom line, just be forewarned that PCI compliance is often not a “walk in the park”.  So, where to start, with a scoping & readiness assessment – our next PCI DSS best practices recommendation.

2. Be Aware of Critical Scoping Considerations: What business functions do you perform that result in the storing, processing, and/or transmittal of cardholder data for your business? What actual system components, people, physical locations, and third-party organizations are in scope for PCI compliance? How does one determine the maturity of each of the PCI test requirements and what steps have to be taken for remediating such issues?  Questions look and sound familiar to you? If so, that’s because these are common concerns businesses have with PCI compliance, and they can be fully addressed with a well-planned and executed PCI DSS scoping & readiness assessment.

Getting the answers before such scoping issues become a problem is one of the real benefits of performing a PCI scoping & readiness assessment, and it’s why Materdei Consulting – the founders of pcipolicyportal.com – offer fixed-fees for such services.  Contact us today at pci@pcipolicyportal.com to learn more about our PCI scoping & readiness assessment services and other PCI DSS best practices for merchants and service providers.

3. Know that REMEDIATION is Coming: We like to call it the big R.  Remediation is just a way of life in the world of PCI DSS compliance as no organization has a fully mature, completely PCI compliant environment.  That’s ok, because remediating gaps and deficiencies serves two (2) great purposes. One, it’s helps in establishing industry leading, best practices relating to the broader subject of information security, and secondly, you become PCI compliant.  It’s a win-win, so let Materdei Consulting, LLC help get you there with our proven PCI remediation services.

Specifically, we can assist in finding the right security tools and solutions, developing outstanding PCI policies and procedures for you, actively assist in completing the applicable PCI Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ), and more. Merchants and service providers have been turning to Materdei Consulting, LLC since 2009, so consider us for all your PCI DSS needs.  To learn more about PCI DSS Best Practices for Merchants for PCI Certification, visit pcipolicyportal.com today.

4. PCI Policies and Procedure are Essential: While we touched on the importance of documentation, let’s expand on this topic to provide a better understanding of the need for PCI policies and procedures, and other supporting documents.  Remember, authoring documentation in terms of policies can be an incredibly time-consuming process, something that can become even more frustrating if you try and modify existing policy documents.  One of the most common answers we receive when asking businesses if they have InfoSec documents in place is, “Yes, and we’ll just modify them for purposes of PCI compliance.”

Unfortunately, it’s not that easy as re-writing and changing existing policies for PCI compliance is actually more time-consuming than completely starting over and using our documents – it really is!  Our PCI policy templates and toolkits contain all the necessary policies, forms, templates, checklists – and more – for helping meet the rigorous documentation needs for PCI – and the material is available for instant download today at pcipolicyportal.com.

Yet the PCI policy toolkits offer more than just policies, you’ll also receive security awareness training materials, risk assessment forms, vendor management templates, and much more.  Policies are important, but so are the numerous operational initiatives that must be carried out for PCI compliance.  As to the specific policy packets, they’re available for Level 1 onsite assessments, along with the following PCI DSS Self-Assessment Questionnaires:

• SAQ A
• SAQ A-EP
• SAQ B
• SAQ B-IP
• SAQ C
• SAQ C-VT
• SAQ P2PE-HW
• SAQ D for Merchants
• SAQ D for Service Providers

Want to save thousands of dollars and dozens of operational hours, then visit pcipolicyportal.com to learn more about our services and solutions for businesses all throughout the globe.  When it comes to PCI DSS best practices for merchants, documentation is one element you need to be vitally aware of.

5. Assess your Third-Party Vendors:  Do you outsource critical services to another business? If so, does any element of your outsourcing activities include a third-party storing, processing, and/or transmitting cardholder data? If so, such organizations need to be PCI DSS compliant, and you have an obligation for ensuring security controls are in place for protecting cardholder data.  One of the challenges, however, is putting in place a formalized, structured plan for assessing a third-party’s security controls, but not anymore, thanks to pcipolicyportal.com, who now offers a vendor and third-party management solution that’s comprehensive, easy-to-use and available for instant download today at pcipolicyportal.com.

6. Engage in “Continuous Monitoring”: So, you’ve become PCI DSS compliant, that’s great, but now the real fun begins with continuous monitoring; the process of inspecting, assessing, and enhancing one’s control environment on a regular basis for ensuring continued compliance with the PCI DSS framework.  We can assist, as our documentation helps for ensuring continuous monitoring efforts are performed – and successful!  To learn more about PCI DSS Best Practices for Merchants for PCI Certification, visit pcipolicyportal.com today.

PCI SAQ Compliance & Certification – Manhattan/New York City Merchants

Materdei Consulting, LLC offers PCI SAQ compliance & certification services for merchants and service providers in Manhattan and the greater New York City metropolitan area. If you’re a business storing, processing, and/or transmitting cardholder data, then becoming compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) is a strict requirement.

Have you begun the PCI DSS certification process only to become frustrated by the never-ending questions and requirements? Unsure of where to start concerning PCI SAQ compliance & certification? Turn to Manhattan’s PCI experts today at Materdei Consulting, LLC, the founders of pcipolicyportal.com, the world’s leading source for high-quality, industry leading PCI policies and procedures.

We offer the following PCI SAQ compliance & certification services to merchants and service providers in Manhattan and within the greater New York City metropolitan area:

Fixed-Fee PCI DSS Scoping & Readiness Assessments

There are literally thousands of business in Manhattan that need to be PCI DSS compliant – we know, we’ve worked with hundreds of them – and luckily, most can become PCI DSS certified through the SAQ process. The only problem is that performing a Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) for becoming PCI compliant is sometimes much more challenging than one would think. How so? As you get into the more complex SAQ requirements – such as SAQ A-EP and SAQ D – they require a deep commitment to putting in place all necessary policies, procedures, and processes – and this can take time.

What’s needed is a fixed-fee, cost-effective PCI scoping & readiness assessment that helps in examining your current control environment. With such an engagement, you’ll walk away with a clear understanding of scope in terms of business and system boundaries, what gaps and deficiencies exist that need to be remediated, deliverables and milestones to be met, future expectations for subsequent PCI reporting, and much more. There’s simply not a better way to begin your PCI process, so contact us today at pci@pcipolicyportal.com to learn more about our PCI SAQ compliance & certification services for businesses in Manhattan and the greater New York City metropolitan area.

Expert Assistance with Vendor Tools Selection

Many of the areas within the relevant SAQ documents often require the use and implementation of a handful of security software solutions and tools. Think File Integrity Monitoring (FIM), two-factor authentication (2FA), external and internal vulnerability scanning, audit logs and audit trails, Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS), and more. Do you have these tools in place? If not, have you began the process of sourcing vendors? Very quickly, this task can spiral out of control as there are literally hundreds of security providers just waiting to take your money, often selling you the wrong product at the wrong price.  We can help assist in choosing the right vendor at the right product. It’s something we do every day with our client list. Contact us today at pci@pcipolicyportal.com to learn more.

PCI Policies and Procedures from the Global Leader in Compliance

Sure, the entire PCI SAQ compliance & certification process can be incredibly complex from an I.T. perspective, but what’s often more time-consuming is developing all of your PCI policies and procedures. From Requirement 1 to Requirement 12 of the PCI DSS standards, there’s up to fifty (50) different policies, procedures, forms, and documents that will need to be in place. Who really has the time to author PCI policies from scratch – not your business, not any business – so do what other Manhattan and greater New York City businesses have been doing for years, and that’s downloading the industry leading PCI policies and procedures for the following SAQ requirements:

• PCI SAQ A
• PCI SAQ A-EP
• PCI SAQ B
• PCI SAQ B-IP
• PCI SAQ C
• PCI SAQ C-VT
• PCI SAQ P2PE-HW
• PCI SAQ D

Along with offering Manhattan businesses PCI policies for the various SAQ requirements, we also provide a comprehensive package for both merchants and service providers having to perform an actual Level 1 onsite assessment by a Payment Card Industry Qualified Security Assessor (PCI-QSA). Visit pcipolicyportal.com today to learn more about our professionally developed, easy-to-use and implement PCI policies and toolkits for businesses in Manhattan and within the greater New York City metropolitan area.

Continuous Monitoring Service for PCI DSS Compliance

Becoming PCI compliant is one thing, but maintaining your certification if often a more challenging battle. After all, you’ll need to ensure that your policies, procedures, and internal control processes are continuously being monitored and updated – a process collectively known as “Continuous Monitoring”. It can be a time-consuming process, but not with the professionally developed documents offered by Materdei Consulting, LLC that allow organizations to build and maintain a successful and efficient “Continuous Monitoring” program. Learn more today about our products and services by visiting pcipolicyportal.com, or simply contact us at pci@pcipolicyportal.com. Since 2009, we’ve helped hundreds of Manhattan businesses – from street corner vendors to large publishing companies – and we’re ready to help you succeed.

PCI Compliance & Certification for Small Businesses Overview

PCI compliance & certification for small businesses – specifically, small merchants and service providers – can be an incredibly time-consuming and taxing proposition as many businesses simply don’t have the operational and financial resources. The key is understanding exactly what the PCI DSS requirements are, what’s important from a scope and risk assessment perspective, and how do businesses go about becoming certified. From policies and procedures to security awareness training requirements, PCI compliance & certification for small businesses does require documentation and other supporting materials, which we provide for instant download today at pcipolicyportal.com. Our industry leading PCI policy packets and compliance toolkits are simply the most sought after documentation available for helping small businesses become compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) requirements.

Our Toolkits save Small Businesses Thousands of Dollars on PCI Compliance

Forget about the high-priced consultants and costly fees for software tools and applications, simply download our industry leading PCI policy packet and compliance toolkits and you’ll be on your way in no time to complying with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).What’s included in our award-winning PCI toolkits – essentially everything a small business needs for becoming PCI DSS compliant. That’s right, from essential policies and procedures to critical risk assessment documentation, security awareness training materials, third-party monitoring documents, and more, it’s all available for instant download today at pcipolicyportal.com.

Our toolkits will save you literally hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars on PCI DSS compliance, no question about it. Additionally, the PCI compliance toolkits are always updated to reflect changes and enhancements made to the actual PCI DSS standards, which has been occurring rather quickly as of late. Best of all, the documentation received has been professionally researched and developed by one of North America’s longest licensed Payment Card Industry Qualified Security Assessors (PCI-QSA). Visit pcipolicyportal.com today and see how we’re helping small business succeed in the world of PCI compliance.

Merchant vs. Service Provider Debate for Small Businesses

Are you a merchant or a service provider? This is something you’ll need to define very quickly as there are different reporting requirements for merchants vs. service providers. Additionally, while merchants have the ability to utilize a large number of Self-Assessment Questionnaires (SAQ), service provider don’t have that luxury. Moreover, merchants need to really spend time in assessing which of the SAQ’s to use, as there are now more SAQ’s than ever before. Thus, depending on which of the SAQ documents you to choose to complete, your annual PCI DSS compliance mandates can consist of a rather small footprint – such as SAQ A – to a rather large footprint, such as SAQ D. Whichever of the SAQ documents you choose to use, policies, procedures, and processes – call it the three (3) P’s – have to be in place. It’s why pcipolicyportal.com was developed; for providing small businesses all throughout the world the very best PCI DSS compliance policy templates found anywhere today.

SAQ vs RoC for Small Business PCI Compliance?

While the vast majority of merchants and service providers can assess with the numerous Self-Assessment Questionnaires (SAQ) – probably up to 99% of merchants – there are still instances where both merchants and service providers have to perform an actual Level 1 onsite assessment by a PCI-QSA. Hopefully, you can stay away from the dreaded Level 1 onsite assessments, but if not, you’ll need to find a proven, high-quality PCI-QSA. Word to the wise – there are a number of Self-Assessment Questionnaires (SAQ) to choose from – especially if you are a merchant – and many merchants will thus need assistance and guidance in determining which SAQ to use.

The SAQ’s, though they stand for “Self-Assessment Questionnaire”, is somewhat misleading, because many of the respective SAQ’s are actually quite detailed and complex, ultimately requiring assistance from an expert, such as a PCI-QSA. The much-dreaded SAQ D is incredibly long and complex, often confusing businesses on how to actually complete the document. Please visit pcipolicyportal.com to learn more about all the products, services, and solutions we offer.

What you’ll want to do is visit pcisecuritystandards.org and download the applicable Self-Assessment Questionnaire for your business. Again, keep in mind that there are numerous SAQ’s, so choosing the right one is important. If you cannot seem to find the right SAQ, then you’ll need to default to SAQ D, which is the longest of all the SAQ’s. How do you know which SAQ is right for you; at the beginning of each SAQ is a list of bullet points asking you a series of questions, thus if you can readily agree to the criteria, then you’re good to go in using that actual SAQ. We provide assistance with completing the SAQ documents, to contact us today at pci@pcipolicyportal.com to and ask about our services and solutions.

Why a PCI Readiness Assessment is Essential

It’s best to perform an actual PCI DSS readiness assessment with a PCI expert for helping better assess and understand the environment in question. From missing policies to critical scope considerations, a readiness assessment – when properly performed – is absolutely invaluable for long-term PCI DSS success. We provide such assessments for a fixed-fee, so contact us today at pci@pcipolicyportal.com to learn more or call us at 424-274-1952. A PCI DSS readiness assessment is absolutely critical – particularly for small businesses new to the PCI DSS standards – as it helps ensure your long-term PCI goals and overall success. A highly reputable organization – such as Materdei Consulting, LLC – can provide PCI DSS readiness assessments that are brief, cost-effective, and highly invaluable.

Expect to Perform PCI Remediation

Hey, nobody’s perfect in life in anything we do, that we can all admit. The same goes for compliance regarding the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) mandates for small businesses. Specifically, every merchant and service provider will have some degree of remediation that needs to be undertaken, from developing policies and procedures to making necessary security implementation changes. The key to successful remediation is having documentation to work with, such as the PCI Policy Packets we offer for instant download today at pcipolicyportal.com. Remediation just became that much easier, thanks to the global experts who’ve been helping businesses with PCI compliance since 2009 – and that’s pcipolicyportal.com.

PCI Policies and Procedures are Critical for Compliance

Ask any small business owner that’s been through the rigorous PCI DSS compliance mandates what’s the most time-consuming and taxing process, and they’ll almost always tell you it’s developing the policies and procedures. Mundane, taxing and not too terribly invigorating, policy writing can be a real drain, and it’s why small businesses turn to us for authoring all the necessary PCI DSS specific policies, procedures, and processes.

You can also save a tremendous amount of money by customizing the templates yourself, because the documentation is that good. Browse our extensive list of policy packet toolkits today at pcipolicyportal.com. When it comes to saving hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars on PCI DSS compliance, leave the PCI policy writing to the experts at Materdei Consulting, LLC. Visit pcipolicyportal.com to learn more, or call us today at 424-274-1952.

Small Businesses will have to Perform Vulnerability Scans

Vulnerability Scanning: Depending on which of the Self-Assessment Questionnaires (SAQ) you need to comply with, vulnerability scanning – both internal and external – will most likely be a requirement. If so, don’t look at a short-term solution – rather – source a scanning vendor you can use for the long-term as vulnerability scans are required quarterly, but as a best practice, should be performed regularly (such as monthly). There are a number of reputable vendors offering such services, so simply look at qualys.com or even search for other providers. Try netboundary.com, as they also offer cost-effective scanning services at reasonable prices. Just because you’re a small businesses, it doesn’t ultimately mean you can escape the mandate for vulnerability scanning.

Small Businesses “Might” have to Perform Penetration Tests

Penetration Testing: Performing an annual penetration test is a really good idea in terms of information security and cybersecurity best practices, and it’s also a mandate for PCI DSS compliance. They “can” be expensive and time-consuming, all the more reason to find and work with a proven organization – such as Materdei Consulting, LLC- who can provide a list of resources for performing such a test. Additionally, the PCI mandates – particularly version 3.2 and subsequent directives – are mandating that penetration tests be performed more frequently now, as the once a year test is seen as inadequate.

While not all merchants and service providers have to perform an annual penetration test, it’s a best practice that should be considered, no question about it, as growing cybersecurity threats are penetrating networks more and more. The thought of a data security breach that results in the leakage of customer data is an absolute nightmare, and it’s why more companies are testing their networks to determine how secure they truly are. And because penetration tests often simulate real-world attacks, you’ll get a very good idea on how secure your network actually is.

PCI Compliance for Small Businesses begins with our PCI Policy Toolkits

When it comes to PCI DSS compliance for small businesses, look to the experts at pcipolicyportal.com, providers of industry leading PCI policies and procedures and other compliance toolkits for merchants and service providers. From New York to LA, pcipolicyportal.com has been offering high-quality, cost-effective services and solutions for small businesses, so contact us today at 424-274-1952 to learn more. Small businesses are the heart of the U.S. economy, which means ensuring the safety and security of cardholder data is now more important than ever. Lastly, if you’re in need of a Payment Card Industry Qualified Security Assessor (PCI-QSA), then contact PCI-QSA Charles Denyer at cdenyer@ndbcpa.com today.

Final Words of Wisdom for PCI Compliance for Small Businesses

PCI compliance & certification for small businesses doesn’t have to be an expensive and laborious proposition – not at all – especially if you take the time to truly understand the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) mandates. Each of the PCI DSS Self-Assessment Questionnaires (SAQ) have their own nuances, to be sure, but documentation is still the biggest and largest mandate for any of the SAQ’s. This ultimately means sourcing the very best, high-quality PCI DSS policies and procedures – and other essential documents – for allowing rapid and complete compliance with the PCI mandates.

Even SAQ A and SAQ B, the much shorter and more condensed PCI DSS SAQ reporting forms, contain requirements for policies and procedures – there’s just not getting around it. Do what small businesses all throughout the country – and the globe – have been doing for years and that’s relying on the PCI Policy Toolkits from pcipolicyportal.com. Since 2009, we’ve been the industry leader when it comes to PCI documentation, so visit pcipolicyportal.com to learn more. And lastly, many of the payment processors provide online reporting portals allowing you to validate and report on PCI compliance each year, so make sure to use the helpful websites.

PCI Compliance & Certification for Healthcare Providers

PCI compliance & certification for healthcare providers is a strict mandate if such entities are storing, processing, and/or transmitting cardholder data. The healthcare industry is incredibly large, complex, and bureaucratic, ultimately creating immense challenges for regulatory compliance, especially with the PCI DSS provisions. From small, single office practitioners to large Third Party Administrators (TPA) of medical claims, you need to get the facts about PCI compliance, and it’s why pcipolicyportal.com offers the following best practices and guidelines for helping healthcare providers become compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).

Save Thousands of Dollars on PCI Compliance with our Toolkits!

Before you dive into the 9 essential points you need to know about for PCI compliance and certification for healthcare providers, keep in mind that complying with the actual Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) is often a time-consuming process because of one large issue – documentation. Specifically, you need PCI policies and procedures, forms, checklists, and other essential materials for compliance, and that’s exactly what you’ll receive when downloading the award-winning PCI Compliance Toolkit for Healthcare Providers today at pcipolicyportal.com.

Ditch the thought of having to write information security policies and procedures from scratch, it’s simply not necessary with our toolkits. Moreover, you’ll receive everything you need – policies, procedures, forms, checklists, risk assessment documents, security awareness training materials, business continuity and disaster recovery documents, and so much more – so visit pcipolicyportal.com today.

PCI Compliance & Certification for Healthcare Providers – 9 Things to Know

1. Compliance is Mandatory: First things first, and if you are storing, processing, and/or transmitting cardholder data (i.e., credit card information), then becoming compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) is a strict mandate – no options. With heavy fines looming for non-compliance, can you really afford to ignore the PCI DSS standards – probably not, so now’s the time to get serious about data security and pcipolicyportal.com can help.

While there are technically millions of Merchant ID’s (MIDS) currently assigned to businesses throughout North America – and only a handful of personnel responsible for enforcement within each of the major payment gateways – mandating PCI DSS compliance has been a challenge, to say the least. Even with that said, payment gateways, processors, ISO’s, acquiring banks – everyone in the payment lifecycle – are getting smarter, stricter, and more demanding when it comes to complying with PCI. Huge fines and penalties are being handed out for non-compliance, so keep this in mind should you decide to continue to ignore the warnings.

2. Understand the Merchant vs. Service Provider Scenario: First and foremost, you’ll need to identify your status in terms of PCI DSS compliance. Are you a merchant or a service provider? What’s the difference and are their actual reporting differences? For an ounce of clarity and simplicity, note that merchants are defined as the following: Any entity that accepts payment cards bearing the logos of any of the five members of PCI SSC (American Express, Discover, JCB, MasterCard or Visa) as payment for goods and/or services. Note that a merchant that accepts payment cards as payment for goods and/or services can also be a service provider, if the services sold result in storing, processing, or transmitting cardholder data on behalf of other merchants or service providers.

3. SAQ vs. Onsite Assessments: If you’ve taken the time to determine your “level” for PCI DSS compliance, then you’re well aware of the four (4) respective levels for compliance, Level’s 1 – 4. While most merchants – if you are defined as a merchant – can self-assess with any number of the PCI DSS Self-Assessment Questionnaires (SAQ), service providers often must perform either a Level 1 assessment, or self-assess via SAQ D. And because many healthcare providers do not operate in the traditional sense of a merchant, most will fall under the category of a service provider for PCI DSS compliance. While you may escape the wrath of having to perform a Level 1 assessment, compliance with SAQ D can be challenging, as it’s an extremely long and detailed document.

4. Begin with a Readiness Assessment: Do yourself a favor by beginning your PCI DSS initiatives with a comprehensive scoping and readiness assessment. PCI compliance for healthcare providers is not going away – more and more healthcare entities are storing, processing, and transmitting credit cards – so the importance of understanding one’s environment for PCI is critical.

5. Policies and Procedures are essential for Compliance: Are you aware of the importance of having PCI policies and procedures in place for PCI DSS compliance? Did you know that there are approximately fifty (50) different policies, procedures, forms, checklists and other supporting documents that need to be in place for PCI DSS compliance? It can be an incredibly time-consuming process, no doubt, and it’s why both merchants and service providers turn to the experts at pcipolicyportal.com for industry leading PCI policies and procedures for helping enable rapid compliance.

After all, who really wants to start from scratch and author information security policies and procedures? Even if you have policies and procedures currently in place, are they current, do they map to the existing PCI DSS standards, and have they even been reviewed for accuracy? Such initiatives could take dozens of hours to implement – and time is money, as the old saying goes – so do yourself a favor and instantly download any one of our award-winning PCI DSS toolkits today from pcipolicyportal.com.

6. Implement Key Operational Mandates: From assessing risk to mandating security awareness training, there’s much to be done in the world of PCI compliance that goes above and beyond just basic PCI policies. While PCI policies and procedures are without question critical, so are the numerous operational initiatives. Policies mean little to nothing if there are no actual procedures put in place for the likes of security awareness training, assessing risks annually, handling security incidents, having users acknowledge usage rights, and more. Take action today by implementing these critical requirements for PCI DSS compliance.

7. Protecting Cardholder Data and PHI is Essential: PCI compliance for healthcare providers essentially means protecting both cardholder data and Protected Health Information (PHI), which means you’ve now got a two-front battle to fight. Challenging indeed, but it’s got to done, so consider downloading our HIPAA policies and procedures today from hipaapoliciesandprocedures.com. Both Covered Entities (CE) and Business Associates (BA) can benefit from having high-quality, industry leading HIPAA information security policies and procedures in place. Much like PCI DSS, HIPAA also mandates that CE’s and BA’s have well-written, comprehensive InfoSec documentation in place.

8. Say Hello to “Continuous Monitoring”: What’s “Continuous Monitoring”, it’s the efforts put in place by businesses for continuing to monitor, assess, and enhance – as necessary – one’s internal controls as it relates to policies, procedures, and processes. It’s about ensuring the continued safety and security of organizational assets, from customer data (i.e., PHI, cardholder data, etc.) to confidential information (i.e., employee H.R. file, trade secrets, etc.). PCI compliance for healthcare providers will no doubt have to include provisions for “Continuous Monitoring”, so keep this in mind. Visit pcipolicyportal.com today to learn more about the industry leading PCI policies and procedures that are available for instant download for healthcare providers.

9. Conduct Scanning and Penetration Testing: PCI compliance for healthcare providers also means that vulnerability scanning and penetration testing will often be a strict requirement. While many companies loathe at the costs and operational time in setting up and establishing such services, its highly needed, even if PCI were not required. How so? Simple. Vulnerability scanning, both internal and external, is an excellent tool/service for identifying threats and other problems with your network. Penetration testing is also an excellent tool/service as such testing actually tries to exploit and “penetrate” your network to see if your network can be compromised and possibly even brought down. With increased cybersecurity risks and threats in today’s business landscape, scanning and penetration testing are two important initiatives all businesses must be performing.

The World’s Leading Provider of PCI Compliance for Healthcare Providers

From small physician’s offices to large national insurance companies, if you’re in the healthcare space and need PCI DSS assistance, then you’ve found the right company. Since 2009, Materdei Consulting, LLC has assisted thousands of businesses throughout North America in becoming compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). Visit pcipolicyportal.com to learn more today about our products and solutions for healthcare providers.

PCI Compliance Checklist for Nonprofits – Overview & Guidelines for Certification

Materdei Consulting, LLC, offers the following PCI compliance checklist for nonprofits, an essential overview complete with guidelines on helping nonprofits throughout North America achieve certification – comprehensively and cost-effectively – in accordance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).

1. Understand what PCI DSS is. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) can be an incredibly difficult mandate for nonprofits, as many organizations are not only challenged with financial costs for compliance, they also struggle to maintain adequate I.T. and operational personnel for assisting with PCI endeavors. The more you understand what PCI DSS is – and what it’s not – the better you’ll better be able to slay what’s arguably the biggest regulatory compliance mandate facing nonprofits in North America. So, what do you need to know about PCI? Here are the essentials for giving you a quick primer on the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS), courtesy of Materdei Consulting, LLC:

2. Compliance is About Documentation: More specifically, regardless of one’s industry, sector, or size, businesses will need to develop comprehensive information security policies and procedures for the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) mandates – approximately 50 + policies. This can be an incredibly challenging, time-consuming and taxing process – especially for nonprofits – and it’ why sourcing high-quality PCI policy templates – such as those offered for instant download at pcipolicyportal.com – is the best approach to take.

3. Compliance is also About Implementing Various Initiatives: Both security awareness training and risk assessments are two (2) fundamentally important mandates for PCI DSS compliance, and they’re much more than just developing policy statements. Specifically, they’re about undertaking various actions for helping ensure the safety and security of cardholder data. You actually have to roll up your sleeves and put in place these initiatives – and after all – they’re best practices you should be performing regardless of PCI DSS compliance or not, particularly in today’s world of regulatory compliance.

The documentation we offer for nonprofits – available for instant download – includes material for implementing both a security awareness training program, along with a risk assessment platform. Visit pcipolicyportal.com to learn more about our industry leading policy packets and compliance materials.

4. Compliance is about “Continuous Monitoring”: What’s “Continuous Monitoring”, it’s about assessing and monitoring your controls on a regular basis for helping ensure the safety and security of cardholder data and other organizational-wide assets. While every business that stores, processes, and transmits cardholder data must become PCI DSS compliant – which often means having a third-party assessor validate compliance (i.e., PCI-QSA) – the real compliance initiatives take root long after the assessors are gone.

Specifically, monitoring your own environment for nonprofits is really what provides long-term security for your organization, not a once-a-year validation for a PCI-QSA. For nonprofits, this means putting in place initiatives for monitoring your internal controls – the policies, procedures and processes – for maintaining PCI DSS compliance. We can help put such a program in place – we’ve done it numerous times for nonprofits all across the country, so email us today at pci@pcipolicyportal.com today.

5. Learn about the reporting requirements for nonprofits: Unless you take credit card information in a traditional merchant scenario, either as a card-present function or through any number of e-commerce platforms, then you’ll likely be considered a service provider for terms of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) compliance. This means that as a service provider, you’ll either be conducting your PCI assessment in accordance with Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) D or via an actual Level 1 onsite assessment via a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA). As to what are the parameters for deciding between SAQ D or a Level 1 onsite assessment, that can be a tricky answer, so call and speak with the PCI compliance nonprofit experts today at 424-274-1952.

6. Are you a merchant or a service provider nonprofit? Good question, because nonprofits can really be both. If you’re selling products and services via an e-commerce portal, you’re a merchant, and if you have some type of credible nexus to cardholder data, you’re a service provider. Don’t get too caught up in the merchant vs. service provider comparison because at the end of the day, the reporting requirements for both still entail the same: policies, procedures, and documented processes have to be in place.

7. Begin with a scoping & readiness assessment: The very best way to begin understanding, assessing – and properly planning – for PCI DSS compliance for nonprofits is by performing a PCI scoping & readiness assessment. Why? Because you need to truly gain insight into important issues, such as scoping boundaries, areas of remediation, personnel needs, etc. Without conducting any type of meaningful scoping & readiness assessment, you’re jeopardizing the long-term success of your PCI endeavors. What’s more, our PCI DSS scoping & readiness assessments are cost-effective, brief, and yield valuable results for helping plan and successfully complete compliance in a timely manner for your organization.

8. Remediate all gaps and issues: From missing policies to internal controls that are simply not functioning correctly, becoming – and staying – compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) “can” be a time-consuming and challenging task for nonprofits. If you choose the right provider for assisting you – and if you have the correct documentation in place, such as what we offer for instant download – then becoming compliant is that much easier. Depending on how mature your control environment is, you may have only marginal areas to remediate – it all depends on your current posture relating to one’s operational, security, and technical controls for nonprofits.

9. Obtain critical PCI policies and procedures templates: Regulatory compliance is often difficult and time-consuming, and adding to its complexities are the heavy requirements for documentation – specifically – policies and procedures. Nobody likes to author them, it’s a mundane process that often gets pushed off to somebody with little time or knowledge of the materials, thus it flounders. What you need are high-quality, well-written, and easy-to-use templates available for instant download today, and that’s exactly what’s offered at pcipolicyportal.com today. From Requirement 1 to Requirement 12, there’s almost fifty (50) PCI policies and supporting procedures that need to be in place, and we’ve got them for you.

10. Perform essential security awareness training: One of the very best initiatives you can do – and also one that’s quite cost-effective – is training all your nonprofit employees on today’s emerging information security best practices for helping ensue they stay abreast of security threats, challenges, and other dangers. Your employees – yes, your human skillset – is without question your first line of defense against threat vectors facing your network, so shouldn’t you take the time to train and educate these individuals – you should – and security awareness training is easy-to-do, cost-effective, and provides a high return on investment (ROI). pcipolicyportal.com offers an incredibly comprehensive security awareness training packet that’s available for instant download today as part of our industry leading PCI Policy Packets. Visit pcipolicyportal.com today to learn more.

11. Undertake an annual risk assessment process: Nonprofits will also need to perform an annual risk-assessment if you choose to go with SAQ D or a Level 1 onsite assessment with a Payment Card Industry Qualified Security Assessor (PCI-QSA). There seems to be quite a bit of chatter on the Internet as to what constitutes a risk-assessment for PCI compliance, at least in terms of scope, mechanisms to use, and the final deliverable. The easy answer is to simply use our all-in-one, comprehensive risk assessment package that includes a well-written policy and procedures templates, along with an easy-to-use risk management spreadsheet. Together, these documents will help you meet the PCI requirements of performing an annual risk assessment. The documentation is available for instant download today at pcipolicyportal.com.

12. Determine any third-party applicability for PCI DSS compliance: Do you have third-parties providing critical services that could impact the safety and security of cardholder data? Are these entities also storing, processing, and/or transmitting cardholder data for which you have a responsibility to protect for your clients? If so, then it’s time to put in place a comprehensive third-party monitoring program. Sure, it’s a requirement for PCI DSS compliance, but it’s also a best practice that any business should be implementing, regardless of industry, size or sector. We can help as we offer our industry leading PCI DSS monitoring packet for download today.

13. Engage in “Continuous Monitoring”: As stated earlier in this article, (and stated again now because of the importance of continuous monitoring!) the efforts needed for ensuring the continued safety and security of one’s cardholder data environment in terms of PCI DSS compliance is widely known as “Continuous Monitoring”. Specifically, it’s about establishing processes and procedures for assessing, reviewing, and enhancing, if necessary, one’s internal controls relating to PCI DSS compliance. Becoming PCI compliant is a notable milestone, but staying compliant, well, that can be a challenging endeavor indeed.

It’s why we offer nonprofits a proven process for monitoring one’s internal controls on a regular basis, complete with forms, checklists, and other processes to compliment your existing checks and balances. Staying compliant with the PCI mandates is a must, and it all begins with comprehensive continuous monitoring initiatives, so contact us today at pci@pcipolicyportal.com to learn more.

Proven PCI Solutions for Nonprofits in North America

If you’re a nonprofit seeking expert guidance, open dialogue, straight talk and fixed-fee services for PCI DSS compliance, then it’s time to talk. From PCI scoping & readiness assessments to assistance with completion of the various PCI Self-Assessment Questionnaires (SAQ), and more, we can help. Contact us today at pci@pcipolicyportal.com to learn more about our capabilities for nonprofits regarding PCI compliance and subsequent certification. We’re ready to help nonprofits succeed in the often costly and complex world of PCI compliance.  We hope you’ve found the PCI compliance checklist for nonprofits helpful in your quest for becoming PCI DSS compliant.

PCI DSS Compliance, Certification, Consultant Oklahoma

Are you a merchant or service provider in Oklahoma and in need of PCI compliance and certification assistance from a proven, trusted provider – a firm that offers fixed-fee pricing and superior services? Then contact the Oklahoma PCI DSS compliance and certification experts at Materdei Consulting, LLC at pci@pcipolicyportal.com today. As Oklahoma natives – our founding partners were raised in Waynoka and Clinton, OK – the Sooner State is home to us, so turn to the PCI professionals today.

Comprehensive PCI DSS SAQ Solutions for Oklahoma Businesses

We offer numerous PCI compliance and certification services for Oklahoma businesses, such as PCI scoping & readiness assessments, PCI policies and procedures packets, strategy and consulting services, assistance with selecting security tools and solutions for compliance, and much more. Look at us as your one-stop shop for Oklahoma PCI compliance. Visit pcipolicyportal.com to learn more about our products, services, and solutions, especially our award-winning PCI Policy Packets, available for instant download for both Level 1 onsite QSA assessments, and for the following SAQ requirements:

• SAQ ASAQ A-E
• SAQ B
• SAQ B-IP
• SAQ C
• SAQ C-VT
• SAQ P2PE-HW
• SAQ D for Merchants
• SAQ D for Service Providers

Oklahoma’s PCI Compliance Experts – Fixed-Fee Prices – Let’s Talk

You don’t have to spend tens of thousands of dollars on PCI compliance, and you don’t have to allocate hundreds of internal man-hours for PCI compliance. Let Materdei Consulting, LLC show you a better way – contact us today at pci@pcipolicyportal.com to learn more. Merchants and service providers in Oklahoma now have a proven and trusted source for PCI DSS compliance and certification. As a full-service compliance firm to Oklahoma businesses, Materdei Consulting, LLC offers the following PCI solutions:

PCI DSS Scoping & Readiness Assessments: One of the most fundamentally important initiatives to undertake for ensuring a successful PCI compliance certification process is performing a scoping & readiness assessment. No, it’s not just another expense to add to your engagement, it’s a highly beneficial process that yields significant findings for helping Oklahoma businesses identify and remediate critical gaps, while also confirming essential scoping boundaries. The more you know in terms of PCI compliance, the greater your chances of achieving certification on time, within budget, and with minimal headaches.

PCI compliance for Oklahoma businesses can be an incredibly challenging and expensive proposition, but it doesn’t have to be, all the more reason for performing a scoping & readiness assessment. Having a clear roadmap in front of you in terms of deliverables, milestones, and expectations is the real benefit of a scoping & readiness assessment, so contact us today at pci@pcipolicyportal.com to learn more.

Policy Writing: Our signature product we’ve been offering since 2009 are PCI policies and procedures for merchants and service providers. Professionally researched, easy-to-use, and implement, they’ve been saving clients thousands of dollars. If you need that extra level of policy customization, we offer policy writing services for Oklahoma businesses.

PCI SAQ Help: Performing a PCI DSS Self-Assessment via any number of the actual Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) documents can be an incredibly trying experience. Sure, its’ an SAQ, which means you don’t need the services of a Payment Card Industry Qualified Security Assessor (PCI-QSA) or some other PCI compliance expert, but it’s probably best you seek out such an individual. Why? Because the SAQ documents have become longer, more in-depth, complex, and demanding. Self-assessing is easier said than done, and it’s why Materdei Consulting, LLC offers comprehensive SAQ consulting and compliance services for Oklahoma businesses. Two of the most commonly utilized SAQ forms – SAQ A-EP and SAQ D – are notorious for being extremely challenging as they require upwards of almost 200 different mandates to be in place within the twelve (12) PCI DSS “Requirements.”

Oklahoma’s PCI SAQ Experts for Merchants and Service Providers

Going it alone on any number of the PCI SAQ documents can get tricky, as you’ll need to ask yourself the following questions for each mandate: (1). Is it in scope and why? (2). Does is require a policy, procedure, or process, and must it be documented? (3). Can a compensating control be used if we cannot meet the original intent of the control? These questions, and many more, often prove challenging to merchants and service providers, so let the PCI experts at Materdei Consulting, LLC assist your business today.

One of the more eye-opening experiences for becoming PCI DSS compliant is the realization that numerous security tools and products often have to be acquired and implemented into one’s environment. With the PCI framework being heavily weighted towards information security – and understandably so – tools such as anti-virus, File Integrity Monitoring (FIM), intrusion detection systems, two-factor authentication, audit and logging mechanisms – and more – are needed. Should you use open source, or not? What are the best tools available for UNIX/Linux and Microsoft systems? Do many of the products offer provisioning services or must we go it alone? These are just a handful of the common questions we help answer for clients by assisting in choosing the right products and services.

There’s literally hundreds of vendors offering viable products and services, but who has time to assess their viability for your environment? We do, as Materdei Consulting, LLC has been helping Oklahoma merchants and service providers for years in finding the right solutions at the right price. Choosing the wrong vendor can cost you thousands of dollars, not to mention endless headaches for PCI compliance, so contact us today to learn more. The healthy balance when it comes to sourcing PCI security solutions is knowing exactly what you need, what works in your environment, and getting it successfully implemented – initiatives Materdei Consulting, LLC can assist with.

Contact Oklahoma’s PCI DSS Experts Today

PCI compliance is a strict mandate for businesses in Oklahoma involved in storing, processing, and transmitting of cardholder data. With rising data breaches resulting in the compromise of highly sensitive consumer data – often credit cards – securing your network is now more important than ever. The PCI DSS standards were developed for ensuring a comprehensive information security platform is in place for merchants and service providers all throughout the globe who work with cardholder data, and we’re here to help you with implementation and compliance.

Looking for guidance on critical scooping issues? We can assist. Need help authoring PCI policies and procedures? Our toolkits are the best in the business? Have questions about interpreting the actual PCI DSS standards? Talk to us and we’ll answer the tough questions. Whatever Oklahoma businesses are looking for in terms of PCI compliance, Materdei Consulting, LLC can deliver. Contact us today at pci@pcipolicyportal.com or visit pcipolicyportal.com to learn more.

PCI Compliance & Certification for Retail Stores – 8 Things to Know

PCI DSS compliance and certification for retail stores is an absolute must as such entities are directly involved in storing, processing and transmitting cardholder data. In fact, from a fraud perspective, retail stores are high on the list when it comes to data breaches and theft of cardholder data – there’s no denying that – so it’s time to get serious about information security and protecting consumer credit card information. Nobody wants a data breach – that we can all agree on – so take note of the following 8 important items your business needs to know about regarding PCI compliance and certification for retail sources, courtesy of Materdei Consulting, LLC, the world’s leading provider of PCI policy templates and toolkits.

Our PCI Compliance Toolkits Save Retail Stores Thousands of Dollars

Before we dig into our Top 8 list for PCI compliance and certification for retail stores, remember one thing that’s very important; documentation is often the largest, most challenging, and time-consuming aspect of becoming compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). That’s right, we’re talking about the huge need for having documented information security and operational policies and procedures in place, an endeavor that can take hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to develop – but not anymore.

Thanks to our award-winning PCI Policy Toolkit for Storefront Merchants that contain all essential policies, forms, checklists, templates, and other material for helping retail stores and storefront merchants become PCI DSS compliant quickly. Learn more today at pcipolicyportal.com and start saving time and money.

The 8 Most Important Things You Need to Know Regarding PCI Compliance

1. Understand Your Exact Reporting Requirements: The vast majority of retail stores can actually perform a PCI DSS Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) simply based on the fact that they do NOT meet or exceed the stated transaction volume for having to go through an official Level 1 onsite assessment with a Payment Card Industry Qualified Security Assessor (PCI-QSA). That’s the good news. The more challenging news is that you still need to determine which of the PCI SAQ documents to use (there are a number of them, some limited strictly to e-commerce), which can be confusing in of itself. Here’s a quick snapshot of the various SAQ’s that retail stores and other storefront entities would be able to assess against for PCI DSS compliance:

• SAQ B: Merchants Using Only: Imprint machines with no electronic cardholder data storage; and/or standalone, dial-out terminals with no electronic cardholder data storage. Note: Not applicable to e-commerce channels.
• SAQ B-IP: Merchants using only standalone, PTS-approved payment terminals with an IP connection to the payment processor, with no electronic cardholder data storage. Note: Not applicable to e-commerce channels.
• SAQ C: Merchants with payment application systems connected to the Internet, no electronic cardholder data storage. Note: Not applicable to e-commerce channels.
• SAQ C-VT: Merchants who manually enter a single transaction at a time via a keyboard into an Internet-based virtual terminal solution that is provided and hosted by a PCI DSS validated third-party service provider. No electronic cardholder data storage. Note: Not applicable to e-commerce channels.
• SAQ P2PE-HW: Merchants using only hardware payment terminals that are included in and managed via a validated, PCI SSC-listed P2PE solution, with no electronic cardholder data storage. Note: Not applicable to e-commerce channels.
• SAQ D: SAQ D for Merchants: All merchants not included in descriptions for the above SAQ types.

Each of the above referenced SAQ’s carry with them vastly different reporting requirements, so keep this in mind. Some may require you to perform penetration testing, some many not, and the overall length, complexity, and scope of each of the above SAQ’s does differ greatly – it all depends on which one you decide to assess against. But remember this, whichever SAQ you assess against, they all require the three (3) P’s – policies, procedures, and processes – and that means documentation, which is what pcipolicyportal.com offers. Additionally, please not that SAQ A and SAQ A-EP are strictly for e-commerce merchants.

2. Know Where Cardholder Data Resides: Sounds easy enough, but you really need to sit down and assess, identify, and ultimately confirm where credit card information resides in your organization, both hard-copy and electronically. Even in today’s digital age, you’d be surprised at the number of retail stores that have cardholder data in hard-copy format, such as old invoices, purchase orders, receipts, and many other locations. Additionally, knowing where cardholder data resides ultimately means knowing how your organization captures credit card information.

It’s why it is critically important to develop a cardholder data flowchart showing the entry/origin, pathway, and exit point(s) of credit card information. When done properly, you’ll be able to readily identify where such cardholder data resides, and that’s the real intent of the exercise for retail stores seeking to become PCI DSS compliant.

3. Put in Place Necessary Documentation: Policies and procedures are a big part of today’s regulatory compliance initiatives – and especially with PCI compliance for retail stores – so it’s important to understand that amount and time effort needed for developing such materials. Do you really want to spend endless hours authoring PCI policies and procedures – probably not – so simply download the PCI Policy Toolkit for Storefront Merchants and get all the policies, forms, and templates needed for becoming PCI compliant. Perhaps you already have policies in place, but are they written to the exact standards of the PCI framework, and are they even current? Save yourself time and money by using professionally developed, high-quality PCI policies and procedures from pcipolicyportal.com.

4. Implement Security Awareness Training: One of the very best initiatives any business can do – especially retail stores – in terms of helping protect their organization is to put in place comprehensive security awareness training. The world we live in today is radically different from just ten years ago, with threats seemingly everywhere, so now’s the time to get serious about protecting organizational assets, and it begins with high-quality, professionally developed security awareness training programs.

pcipolicyportal.com offers professionally researched and developed PCI security awareness training materials for instant download today as part of the PCI Policy Toolkit for Storefront Merchants. The material is easy-to-use, incredibly comprehensive, and well-written. Forget about spending thousands of dollars on online training for PCI security awareness – use our materials instead!

5. Be on the Lookout for Fraud: It is retail after all, which means fraud is going to happen, no question about it. With that said, you’ll have to keep an eye on the shoplifters, but also people who try to use stolen credit cards to purchase goods. But perhaps the biggest fraud scheme to watch for is internal employees using card skimmers at the Point-of-Sale (POS) devices. Yes, unfortunately internal employees are often the most dangerous types of individuals when it comes to cardholder data breaches. Because of this, retail businesses need to regularly inspect the POS devices, essentially looking for card-skimming readers, and anything else unusual.

6. Implement Security Awareness Training: The real advantage of PCI security awareness training for retail stores is that employees gain valuable knowledge relating to essential security issues, threats, and best practices. But it also let’s your workforce know that YOUR business is serious about cardholder data security. This invariably makes malicious employees sometimes think twice before purporting some type of internal fraud, as they know the business owner is wise to such tactics and practices. Your internal employees are much more likely to cause greater financial damage and stress in terms of fraud than external individuals – sad but true.

7. Perform a Risk Assessment: Assessing risk is a critical element for any merchant seeking to enhance profits, minimize threats to the organization, while continuing to have a business that’s sustainable for the long-term. Sure, a risk assessment is a requirement for PCI DSS compliance, but it’s also a good idea, and something that every organization should perform. After all, don’t you want to know about threats and challenges that can cause major issues and constraints with your business – sure you do – so perform a risk assessment today and get the answers you need.

Our PCI Policy Toolkit for Storefront Merchants comes complete with a comprehensive, yet easy-to-use risk assessment program, and it’s available for instant download today at pcipolicyportal.com.

8. Continuous Monitoring should be the New Norm: PCI compliance for retail stores also means employing “Continuous Monitoring” activities, the initiatives undertaken for monitoring and ultimately making changes to one’s internal controls for ensuring continued compliance. It can be a difficult challenge, but with high-quality documentation from pcipolicyportal.com, one’s monitoring functions just became that much easier.

Some of the specific items you’ll need to undertake for continuous monitoring is ensuring that Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals/devices have not been tampered with, that employees do not have resources to steal cardholder data, that annual security awareness training is undertaken, and much more. Becoming PCI compliant is one thing, but maintaining it is a whole different battle. For assistance, contact us today at pci@pcipolicyportal.com to learn more about the industry leading services and solutions offered by Materdei Consulting, LLC regarding PCI compliance for retail businesses throughout North America. PCI compliance for retail entities doesn’t have to be an expensive and time-consuming proposition; hire us and we’ll show what needs to be done.

The World’s Leading Provider of PCI Policies & Toolkits for Retail Stores

Becoming PCI DSS compliant is a strict requirement for retail stores, so download the PCI Policy Toolkit for Storefront Merchants today and save hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars on PCI compliance. Since 2009, Materdei Consulting, LLC – the founders of pcipolicyportal.com – have helped thousands of retails businesses all throughout North America with PCI compliance. From high-quality PCI policies and procedures to professional consulting services – and more – we are the trusted leader for PCI compliance. Visit our website today at pcipolicyportal.com, or contact us at pci@pcipolicportal.com to learn more.

We also offer expert guidance and recommendations on various tools and other security initiatives for helping retail stores becoming PCI compliant. From vulnerability scanning tools to File Integrity Monitoring providers, we have a list of high-quality, cost-effective vendors with proven solutions for helping merchants become PCI DSS compliant.

PCI Compliance & Certification for Cloud & SaaS Environments

PCI compliance and certification for cloud providers and SaaS vendors/platforms is a hot topic of discussion these days – and for very good reason – as the continued adoption and migration to cloud based platforms is growing larger by the day. Say goodbye to the antiquated 1990’s client-server architecture and hello to the speed, efficiency, and cost-savings of the cloud. With big rewards come big compliance mandates, which means having credit card information in the cloud requires an extra effort for ensuring the safety and security of consumer cardholder data and any other associated Personally Identifiable Information (PII). The cloud is here to stay – no question about it – so it’s time to get educated on the finer points regarding PCI compliance and certification for cloud environments such as SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS.

Our PCI Toolkits for the Cloud save Businesses Thousands of Dollars

Before we get into a discussion on PCI compliance and certification for cloud businesses, just a quick primer on the importance of documentation. While the PCI DSS mandates are highly technical indeed – firewalls, routers, access control and other security topics dominate the discussion on PCI – it’s profoundly important to recognize the importance of documentation.
Did you know that literally dozens – up to fifty (50) different policies and procedures are mandated for full PCI compliance? Are you aware of the strict requirements for performing a risk assessment, along with monitoring your third-party providers? Do have security awareness training material in place as annual training is also a strict mandate for PCI DSS compliance?

You see, wherever you turn to regarding PCI compliance, documentation is a huge part of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards, and it’s why we offer industry, leading award-winning PCI compliance toolkits and policy packets for cloud and SaaS vendors/platforms. Visit pcipolicyportal.com today to learn more about
PCI compliance and certification for cloud providers and SaaS vendors/platforms.

Essential “Must-Know” Facts about PCI Compliance in the Cloud

1. Different Cloud Businesses Require Different PCI Reporting. Are you a provider of cloud services to businesses or are you an actual business operating in the cloud? It’s a basic question to ask yourself and one that requires completely different PCI DSS reporting mandates depending on which function you serve. While the industry heavyweight cloud providers – Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, and others – clearly have their PCI DSS ducks in a row with annual compliance, there are still a number of smaller, boutique cloud vendors that also must perform annual PCI DSS compliance.

However, the vast majority of PCI compliance in the cloud falls on the near endless number of businesses operating in the cloud and providing a form of Software as a Services (SaaS), including IaaS and PaaS offerings. From data analytics to healthcare benefit submission portals and tools, there are literally dozens – perhaps hundreds – of different cloud based businesses currently in operation.

2. If You’re a Provider of Cloud Services. The two big heavyweights of cloud services are well-known – Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure – but there are hundreds, if not more, of cloud services providers offering products, solutions, and services to clients. For these very entities, PCI DSS compliance is a must, but from a scope perspective, it’s often limited to core “Requirements” within the actual PCI DSS framework. More specifically, Requirement’s 9 and 12 are in-scope, along with partial compliance for any number of the remaining PCI DSS Requirements.

It’s important to remember that the basis for PCI compliance for cloud/SaaS/PaaS/IaaS providers/vendors begins with securing the basic elements of a network and putting in place standardized business policies and procedures, which is what Requirement’s 9 and 12 speak to. After that, the remaining Requirements can be assessed for validity based on a cloud provider’s actual services. For example, does the cloud provider offer managed services – if so – then Requirement’s 7 and 8 could be in scope. Another example would be does the cloud provider offer managed network services – if so – then certain elements of Requirement’s 9 and 10 would be in scope. In short, you need to tailor your approach to PCI DSS compliance, and it begins with sourcing a proven and trusted PCI consultants, such as the professionals at Materdei Consulting, LLC, the founders of pcipolicyportal.com.

3. If You’re a Business Operating in the Cloud. More and more businesses are moving to the cloud, which means regulatory compliance mandates are now focusing on the cloud, and such is the case with PCI. The vendor you have contracted with “should” be performing annual PCI DSS assessments, which means that some of the more notable “Requirements” out of the 12 requirements within the PCI DSS framework will already be validated (again, hopefully validated, provided your cloud provider has performed an annual PCI assessment, and most have).
For example, Requirement 9 is has to do with physical security, for which your cloud provider’s PCI compliance assessment will cover, but there’s still much to be done in terms of YOUR own PCI compliance endeavors, so keep this in mind.  Specifically, your cloud provider is essentially providing the core cloud services, so it’s up to you to implement, configure, and validated many of the other controls and business processes you are performing.

Relying on a cloud provider’s PCI DSS assessment will definitely assist in your own PCI endeavors, but it surely doesn’t cover all the requirements, so there’s work to be done on your end. Depending on the type of cloud service you’re on – SaaS, PaaS, IaaS – such requirements can greatly vary, so talk to the a PCI cloud expert today at pcipolicyportal.com.

4. Technical Remediation is Often Necessary. One of the most important elements of a successful PCI DSS audit for businesses operation in the cloud is the ability to successfully remediate various technical and security deficiencies found within one’s control environment. For example, businesses often find that network devices need to be re-configured, passwords need to be strengthened, servers need to be re-provisioned – just a few example of the many areas of technical remediation that businesses find that they need to perform. As to how little or how much technical remediation needs to be undertaken, that all depends on the maturity of one’s control environment, something that can be assessed with a PCI DSS scoping & readiness as the front end of an audit, and not after the fact. Bottom line, being proactive in terms of PCI compliance is what’s best for every business.

If you need assistance with technical remediation, we can help as we have highly experienced security consultants on hand, yet we also offer high-quality, industry leading provisioning and hardening forms and checklists available for instant download with our PCI Policy Packets for Cloud Computing & SaaS entities.

5. Policies and Procedures Are Critical.  A day doesn’t go by in our world of regulatory compliance that we don’t hear the grumbling about writing policies and procedures. It’s boring, mundane, can take dozens of hours, and nobody really wants to eagerly raise their hand and be anointed such a task. We more than understand, and it’s why Materdei Consulting, LLC launched pcipolicyportal.com in 2009 and began offering the finest PCI policies and procedures found anywhere.

Bottom line, every business undergoing annual PCI DSS compliance must have policies and procedures in place – the essential documents describing procedures and acceptable uses of an organization’s information systems. Download the PCI Policy Packets for Cloud Computing & SaaS entities today from pcipolicyportal.com and get compliant quicker and easier than ever before.

While the vast majority of businesses are very good at what they do, they’re not too terribly good at documenting their procedures, hence the need for overhauling ones information security policies and procedures often becomes an incredibly time-consuming task – that’s even if they had any polices in place at all! The solution for developing the massive amount of PCI policies and procedures in a relatively short-period of time for businesses operating in the cloud is to download the award-winning PCI compliance toolkits and policy packets for cloud and SaaS vendors/platforms at pcipolicyportal.com today. Saving hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars on the development of PCI policies and procedures is what we do best, so turn to the PCI compliance and certification for cloud providers and SaaS vendors/platforms experts today.

6. There are Numerous Operational Initiatives to Implement.  Yes there are, such as implementing security awareness training for all employees, performing a comprehensive risk assessment, along with assessing third-party scope for possible PCI compliance. Such operational initiatives require much more than just a policy template, they actually require merchants and service providers to implement such measures. pcipolicyportal.com, the world’s leading provider of PCI policies and procedures and compliance toolkits, offers risks assessment documentation, security awareness training, along with a third-party/vendor management program. It’s all available for instant download today, so visit pcipolicyportal.com to learn more.

Nobody has hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to spend on time-consuming policy writing, so turn to the company that’s been helping businesses all around the world since 2009 with comprehensive and cost-effective PCI DSS service and solutions. All of our documentation has been expertly written by one of the country’s leading PCI-QSA’s, thus giving you the confidence that you’re receiving the very best materials found anywhere today.

7. The Importance of Vulnerability Scanning and Penetration Testing.  Assessing one’s network for threat vectors is critically important, and that’s exactly why the PCI DSS requirements “require” vulnerability scans and penetration tests to be performed. While not all merchants and service providers have to perform scanning and pen testing – the vast majority of PCI compliance candidates have to – thus it’s important to source a long-term scanning tool and a reputable partner for PCI vulnerability tests. Vulnerability scans are essential as they help to detect external threats and internal threats, while penetration tests simulate a real-world attack and what the consequences can be. In today’s world of growing cybersecurity threats, these two initiatives are critically important, especially regarding PCI compliance and certification for cloud providers and SaaS vendors/platforms.

8. Say Hello to the Concept of “Continuous Monitoring”.  Achieving PCI compliance is a monumental milestone, but maintaining PCI DSS compliance is often much more challenging, hence the need for implementing “continuous monitoring” initiatives – the process of assessing, changing, and ultimately enhancing one’s internal controls for continued PCI DSS compliance. We highly recommend you appoint an internal compliance person to drive such efforts, as maintaining compliance can be challenging, so having an individual with a compliance background is essential, no question about it.

9. Next Steps? Simply visit pcipolicyportal.com today and download the industry leading PCI compliance and certification for cloud providers and SaaS vendors/platforms Policy Packet today. Pcipolicyportal.com also offers in-depth consulting services for your PCI DSS needs. Email us today at pci@pcipolicyportal.com to learn more.

We are the Global Leaders for PCI Policies & Procedures and Policy Templates

What’s literally unknown to the tens of thousands of businesses in North America – and around the world – is that having to comply with PCI essentially requires developing high-quality, comprehensive PCI DSS specific policies and procedures. That’s right, compliance with PCI requires your organization to have in place literally dozens of policies, all the more reason for sourcing well-written, easy-to-use PCI templates that are available for instant download today for merchants and service providers. Let’s face it, nobody likes author PCI policies and procedures, especially technical writing that requires great concentration and time commitments from your internal personnel.

To date, there are twelve core requirements for the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards Initiatives, with each requirement needing a number of policies and procedures. Count them up, one by one, and you will require approximately 50 different PCI policies and procedures for PCI DSS compliance. Why even consider spending thousands of dollars on high-priced PCI consultants – or worse – don’t try and take your old and never used information security policies and brush them up for PCI compliance. The safe and cost-effective solution is visiting pcipolicyportal.com today and downloading the very best PCI templates, found anywhere on the Internet today. When it comes to PCI compliance and certification for cloud providers and SaaS vendors/platforms, turn to the experts at Materdei Consulting, LLC.

GDPR and FISMA

While we’re on the topic of PCI DSS compliance, two other regulatory compliance mandates come to mind: (1). GDPR compliance for US companies (2). FISMA certification and accreditation. GDPR compliance is the much newer legislation, as it takes effect in May, 2018, while FISMA has been with us since 2002, for which it was slightly amended in 2014 to incorporate new enhancements. Here’s a brief overview of both GDPR compliance for US companies and FISMA certification and accreditation.

As for GDPR, it stands for the General Data Protection Regulation, a law put forth by the European Union requiring controllers and processors to be compliant if they process (via automated means) personal data for EU Data subjects. Businesses all throughout the globe are scrambling to become GDPR compliant, and that includes North American companies. Becoming compliant with the GDPR means putting in place necessary GDPR policies and procedures, and other supporting best practices.

As for FISMA – the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) – it requires both federal agencies and businesses provides services to these very federal agencies, to become compliant. FISMA is essentially an exercise in becoming compliant with NIST SP 800-53, the actual framework used. FISMA certification and accreditation can be a challenge indeed, and it’s why businesses need to find a competent firm to assist with, along with FISMA policies and procedures as documentation is a big part of compliance.