A PCI DSS audit is a point-in-time evaluation of your company’s compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). These audits are mandated by credit card companies.
A qualified security assessor will perform your audit, evaluating your network infrastructure, systems and procedures. This will identify areas that need to be remedied to meet PCI DSS audit requirements.
Requirements
A PCI DSS audit aims to find any administrative, physical, and technical gaps in your organisation’s information security program. This will allow a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) to create remediation strategies that will help your organisation become more compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.
To ensure that your business remains PCI compliant as it grows, you should regularly re-assess its compliance requirements. This will help you identify any new processes that involve cardholder data, as well as any changes to the way in which you process and store it.
Scope
The scope of a PCI DSS audit includes all people, processes and technologies that interact with or could affect the security of cardholder data (CHD). In other words, anything in your network that stores, processes, or transmits CHD is considered in scope.
In addition to knowing which systems are in scope, you also need to understand how they interact with cardholder data. This knowledge can help you determine which security controls are appropriate and necessary for your organisation.
Auditing
A PCI DSS audit is the process of testing your organisation’s compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). This framework is set up by various credit card companies, and it requires merchants and their service providers to demonstrate that they are protecting credit and debit card information.
In a PCI DSS audit, a qualified security assessor (QSA) examines point-of-sale systems and other aspects of your business IT architecture to see whether you meet the standards for cardholder data security. QSAs give you a risk assessment that shows you where you stand and helps you determine how to improve your compliance.
Reporting
When completing a PCI DSS audit, you need to be sure that you have the right documentation in place. This will need to be updated as the business evolves, card data environments change, and PCI DSS requirements are amended.
Compliance reporting tools can help you identify whether your system meets all of the requirements of the PCI DSS framework. The reports provide a Pass/Fail or Warning status and detail each requirement tested.
The PCI DSS is a global information security framework designed to protect payment cardholder data from exposure or fraudulent use. Failure to meet these standards can result in penalties from credit card brands and acquiring banks.
