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PCI requirements and who needs to follow them

Blog post from Basis Theory

Post Details
Company
Date Published
Author
Basis Theory
Word Count
3,231
Company Posts That Month
11
Language
English
Hacker News Points
-
Post removed?
No
Summary

PCI DSS is a payment-card security standard that requires merchants and service providers handling cardholder data to protect it through 12 broad controls covering network security, secure configurations, encryption, vulnerability management, secure development, access restrictions, authentication, physical safeguards, logging, testing, and security policies. Compliance obligations generally increase with annual transaction volume, with Visa’s Level 1 applying above six million transactions and requiring an independently assessed Report on Compliance, while lower levels commonly use Self-Assessment Questionnaires. Organizations that store, process, or transmit card data are responsible for compliance, although payment and tokenization providers can reduce the systems and processes included in a merchant’s compliance scope. Compliance can involve substantial implementation, maintenance, testing, audit, personnel, and opportunity costs, particularly for larger organizations, while noncompliance can lead to fines, higher processing costs, added requirements, legal action, and remediation work after incidents. The material emphasizes limiting direct exposure to cardholder data through service providers, encryption, tokenization, and segmented cardholder-data environments as a way to reduce risk and administrative burden, though such approaches may involve tradeoffs in payment flexibility and data use.

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