PCI Compliance Certification for e-Commerce Merchants

PCI Compliance Certification for e-Commerce Merchants – Overview

PCI compliance certification for e-commerce merchants and websites is a strict mandate as these platforms are directly involved in the storage, processing, and/or transmission of cardholder data. With millions of e-commerce websites selling a myriad of products, services, and solutions to the general public, protecting consumer credit card information is absolutely paramount, and it’s why online businesses have been turning to pcipolicyportal.com since 2009 for industry leading consulting services and PCI policies and procedures & PCI policy templates. Are you an e-commerce merchant and need assistance with PCI DSS compliance, but don’t know where to start, then start here by learning about essential best practices for PCI compliance certification for e-commerce merchants, websites, and other portals that store, process, and/or transmit cardholder data.

Our e-Commerce PCI Toolkits save Merchants Thousands of Dollars

It’s important to note that a large element of being able to successfully comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) is having all mandated policies and procedures in place. More specifically, we’re talking about documentation, such as policies, forms, checklists, and more, and that’s exactly what you’ll receive when instantly downloading the PCI Policy Packet & Toolkit for e-commerce merchants at picpolicyportal.com. Authored by industry leading PCI DSS QSA’s, the toolkits contain all the essential ingredients for ensuring rapid and complete compliance with the PCI DSS standards. e-commerce merchants and website owners can now save hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars on essential PCI compliance documents.

Our e-Commerce PCI Toolkits Include Much More than Just Policy Templates!

That’s right, not only will you receive hundreds of pages of professionally develop and well-written PCI policies and procedures, you’ll also receive high-quality security awareness training documentation (both a PCI security awareness training manual and PCI security awareness PPT training presentation), comprehensive risk assessment materials (because performing a risk assessment is a mandate for PCI compliance), and so much more. Our PCI Policy Packet & Toolkit for e-commerce merchants will have you compliant in no time at all!

Important Points e-Commerce Merchants Need to Know

1. Use a PCI DSS Approved e-Commerce Provider: E-commerce merchants are selling more and more products on the web each and every day, thanks to the low cost of entry in building and launching an actual website with payment integration. Additionally, with sites such as Shopify and Volusion offering high-quality e-commerce sites, the ability to get a website up and running is now easier than ever. Thankfully, many of these e-commerce providers are not only PCI DSS compliant, but they also don’t allow you to store the cardholder data, thus removing a big degree of risk from your environment.

And there are many other players entering the market offering e-commerce solutions, so when possible, use these vendors instead of trying to build you own customized payment page. If you use these vendors, then you can become PCI compliant via PCI SAQ A, and we offer an easy-to-use SAQ A policy packet that’s available for instant download today.

2. Going Custom Requires Work: Sure, you get what you pay for, and if it’s customization you need for your e-commerce site, then this requires developers to build a site from scratch – on a proven framework, that is – but it also means the new platform will need to be assessed for PCI DSS certification, which ultimately means sourcing a proven PCI DSS expert for assisting with such endeavors. The more you are involved in the actual e-commerce website that’s responsible for storing, processing and/or transmitting cardholder data, then the larger you obligation is in becoming PCI DSS compliant. Simply stated, limiting your exposure to cardholder data allows e-commerce merchants to complete the annual SAQ A questionnaire versus the much-dreaded SAQ A-EP or SAQ D, which is the next topic on our list of discussion.

3. Which SAQ Do I use? E-commerce merchants only have three (3) Self-Assessment Questionnaires (SAQ) for which they can choose from: SAQ A, SAQ A-EP, or SAQ D, that’s it – nothing else – so forget about even looking at the other SAQ’s. As for SAQ A, SAQ A-EP, and SAQ D, here’s what you need to know:

• SAQ A: Card-not-present merchants (e-commerce or mail/telephone-order) that have fully outsourced all cardholder data functions to PCI DSS validated third-party service providers, with no electronic storage, processing, or transmission of any cardholder data on the merchant’s systems or premises. Note: This is not applicable to face-to-face channels.

• SAQ A-EP: E-commerce merchants who outsource all payment processing to PCI DSS validated third parties, and who have a website(s) that doesn’t directly receive cardholder data but that can impact the security of the payment transaction. No electronic storage, processing, or transmission of any cardholder data on the merchant’s systems or premises. Note: This is applicable only to e-commerce channels.

• SAQ D: SAQ D for Merchants: All merchants not included in descriptions for the above SAQ types

4. Policies and Procedures are Critical: Very critical, to be clear, as all companies having to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) must have documented information security policies and procedures in place. Imagine the time and effort needed for authoring such comprehensive documentation – dozens of hours indeed – and it’s why merchants and service providers turn to pcipolicyportal.com and instantly download our award-winning PCI Policy Packet & Toolkit for e-commerce merchants.

If you’re into saving hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars on complying with PCI DSS, then obtaining a set of high-quality, easy-to-use templates should be one of your very first steps. And the PCI Policy Packet & Toolkit for e-commerce merchants contain much more than policy templates – that’s right – you’ll also receive well-written risk assessment materials, security awareness training documents, essential forms and checklists – and more – so visit pcipolicyportal.com today.

Perhaps you already have information security policies and procedures in place – great – but are they current, relevant, and can they effectively map back to the actual PCI DSS standards for all twelve (12) requirements? If not, then it’s time to look for some viable options in obtaining much-needed PCI policies and procedures templates.

5. Technical Remediation is Also a Necessity: PCI compliance is technical – no question about that – and because of this, you’ll often have to implement a number of technical solutions for ensuring compliance. For starters, you’ll need to ensure that the servers – specifically, the underlying O/S and the application(s) residing on the servers have been properly configured, provisioned, and hardened before deployment to a production environment. We’re talking application servers, database servers – any server deemed in-scope for the e-commerce platform. Luckily, there are a number of excellent web portals that provide industry leading configuration and administration guides, but our policy packets also offer hardening guides and checklists!

Other areas of remediation that we often find in e-commerce platforms are the following: (1). Implementing File Integrity Monitoring (FIM. (2). Using two-factor/multi-factor authentication for privileged access and remote access into systems. (3). Putting in place comprehensive audit logging and audit trails. (4). Ensuring that code reviews and a structured SDLC process is in place for any software developed that’s deployed onto the e-commerce platform.

The list for technical remediation can go on, so it’s important to find an expert to help guide you through the applicable SAQ document you’ve finally selected to use. Materdei Consulting, LLC provides hourly consulting services to e-commerce merchants, so contact us today to learn more about pricing and services.

6. Numerous Other Operational Initiatives are Mandatory: Have you performed a risk assessment lately? How about developing a comprehensive, real-world incident response plan? Trained your employees lately with industry leading security awareness training modules that discuss emerging threats and how to respond accordingly? As you can clearly see, compliance with PCI is much more than just writing policies and implementing security controls – sure that’s all important – but there’s also a number of operational mandates that need to be in place. And you can obtain all the necessary templates and documentation for successfully fulfilling these initiatives by purchasing our award-winning PCI Policy Packet & Toolkit for e-commerce merchants.

7. Where to Begin? By visiting pcipolicyportal.com today and downloading any number of the industry leading, award winning toolkits, such as the PCI Policy Packet & Toolkit for e-commerce merchants. Becoming compliant with the PCI DSS standards requires a healthy dose of policies, procedures, and processes – call them the 3 P’s – and we’ve got the templates, forms, checklists, and other materials for helping you succeed. Since 2009, pcipolicyportal.com has been the undisputed heavyweight champion when it comes to PCI policies and procedures and other related PCI compliance materials, so talk to the experts today – we can help.

8. Enforcement is for Real: Yes it is, as the growing cybersecurity landscape is creating a real sense of urgency in terms of e-commerce merchants securing their entire platform. Just look at the news each day and you’re sure to find an article or breaking story about yet another data breach that’s resulted in untold numbers of credit cards and/or customer data stolen. As for the payment processors, payment gateways, and acquiring banks, they’re getting very serious about PCI compliance enforcement, no question about it.

We’ve seen heavy fines being handed out to e-commerce merchants who simply fail to understand the fundamental importance of becoming – and staying – PCI DSS compliant. Don’t fall into this trap – do what you need to do for becoming and staying compliant each year. Sure, it can be tough, and it’s why anointing an internal PCI DSS “Champion” is more important than ever. Call them whatever you want – an advocate, a PCI enforcer – we use the term champion as it take a person with real resilience to accept such a challenge. After all, this person has to constantly ensure that policies, procedures, and processes are up-to-date, that personnel are following the mandated requirements for compliance, along with a laundry list of other items.

The Undisputed Global Leader for PCI Policies and Procedures

Businesses in need of comprehensive, well-written PCI policies and procedures turn to the PCI experts at Materdei Consulting, LLC. Available for immediate download, we offer numerous PCI policy templates and toolkits for sale, such as the award-winning PCI Policy Packet & Toolkit for e-commerce merchants. As an incredibly comprehensive set of documents, the PCI Policy Packet & Toolkit for e-commerce merchants contains all the essential ingredients for helping businesses obtain rapid PCI DSS certification. From policies and procedures to security awareness training materials, risk assessment forms, and more, you’ll save hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars on PCI compliance.

Our e-Commerce PCI Toolkits save Merchants Thousands of Dollars

Nobody likes authoring PCI policies and procedures – trust us, we truly understand – and it’s why sourcing high-quality templates and other supporting documentation is so important. Since 2009, Materdei Consulting, LLC has been assisting merchants and service providers all throughout the globe by offering the finest PCI policies and procedures found anywhere today. Visit pcipolicyportal.com today and view our extensive library of products and solutions, which includes the PCI Policy Packet & Toolkit for e-commerce merchants. When you want compliance done right, it begins with professionally developed documentation that’s available from the global PCI experts at Materdei Consulting, LLC.

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