About the PCI Compliance Guide
Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance is a complex and ever evolving subject affecting millions of businesses – acquiring banks, Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs), processors, hosts, shopping carts, e-commerce and retail merchants and other merchant services providers.  

E5 Development can help you intergrate into your custom software application the PCI Data Security Standard (DSS), a set of comprehensive requirements for enhancing payment account data security, was developed by the founding payment brands of the PCI Security Standards Council, including American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB International, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa Inc. Inc. International, to help facilitate the broad adoption of consistent data security measures on a global basis.

The PCI DSS is a multifaceted security standard that includes requirements for security management, policies, procedures, network architecture, software design and other critical protective measures. This comprehensive standard is intended to help organizations, like E5 Development, proactively protect customer account data that is a part of thier custom software development solutions.

Q: What is PCI?
A: The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of requirements designed to ensure that all companies that process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. Essentially any merchant that has a Merchant ID (MID).

Q: Why does E5 Development support PCI Compliance?
A: Our goal at E5 Development is to build and develop custom ASP.net applications, and make sure that they are PCI Compliant. 

Q: If I only accept credit cards over the phone, does PCI still apply to me?
A: Yes. All business that store, process or transmit payment cardholder data within their custom application must be PCI Compliant.

The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) was launched on September 7, 2006 to manage the ongoing evolution of the Payment Card Industry (PCI) security standards with focus on improving payment account security throughout the transaction process. The PCI DSS is administered and managed by the PCI SSC (www.pcisecuritystandards.org), an independent body that was created by the major payment card brands (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and JCB.).
It is important to note, the payment brands and acquirers are responsible for enforcing compliance, not the PCI council.
A copy of the PCI DSS is available here https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/security_standards/pci_dss_download_agreement.html.

Q:To whom does PCI apply?
A: PCI applies to ALL organizations or merchants, regardless of size or number of transactions, that accepts, transmits or stores any cardholder data. Said another way, if any customer of that organization ever pays the merchant directly using a credit card or debit card, then the PCI DSS requirements apply.

Q: What does a small-to-medium sized business have to do in order to satisfy the PCI requirements?
A: To satisfy the requirements of PCI, a merchant must complete the following steps:

• Identify your Validation Type as defined by PCI DSS – see below . This is used to determine which Self Assessment Questionnaire is appropriate for your business.
• Complete the Self-Assessment Questionnaire according to the instructions in the Self- Assessment Questionnaire Instructions and Guidelines.
• Complete and obtain evidence of a passing vulnerability scan with a PCI SSC Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV). Note scanning does not apply to all merchants. It is required for Validation Type 4 and 5 – those merchants with external facing IP addresses. Basically if you electronically store cardholder information or if your processing systems have any internet connectivity, a quarterly scan by an approved scanning vendor is required.
• Complete the relevant Attestation of Compliance in its entirety (located in the SAQ tool).
• Submit the SAQ, evidence of a passing scan (if applicable), and the Attestation of Compliance, along with any other requested documentation, to your acquirer.
• I’m a small merchant with very few card transactions; do I need to be compliant with PCI DSS?
All merchants, small or large, need to be PCI compliant. The payment brands have collectively adopted PCI DSS as the requirement for organizations that process, store or transmit payment cardholder data.

Q: Am I PCI compliant if I have an SSL certificate?
A: No. SSL certificates do not secure a Web server from malicious attacksor intrusions. High assurnce SSL certificates provide the firsttier f customer security and reassurance suc as the below, but there are other steps to achieve PCI Compliance. See Question “What does a small-to-medium sized business have to do in order to satisfy the PCI requirements?”

• A secure connection between the customer's browser and the web server
• Validation that the Website operators are a legitimate, legally accountable organization

Q: Do I need vulnerability scanning to validate compliance?
A: If you electronically store cardholder data post authorization or if your processing systems have any internet connectivity, a quarterly scan by a PCI SSC Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV) is required.

Q: What is a network security scan?
A: A network security scan involves an automated tool that checks a merchant or service provider's systems for vulnerabilities. The tool will conduct a non-intrusive scan to remotely review networks and Web applications based on the external-facing Internet protocol (IP) addresses provided by the merchant or service provider. The scan will identify vulnerabilities in operating systems, services, and devices that could be used by hackers to target the company's private network. As provided by an Approved Scanning Vendors (ASV’s) such as ControlScan the tool will not require the merchant or service provider to install any software on their systems, and no denial-of-service attacks will be performed.
Note, typically only merchants with external facing IP address are required to have passing quarterly scans to validate PCI compliance. This is usually merchants completing the SAQ C or D version.

Q: How often do I have to scan?
A: Every 90 days/once per quarter you are required to submit a passing scan. Merchants and service providers should submit compliance documentation (successful scan reports) according to the timetable determined by their acquirer. Scans must be conducted by a PCI SSC Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV). ControlScan is a PCI Approved Scanning Vendor.

Please e-mail or call us if you have any other questions regarding PCI Compliance at info@e5dev.com, or 407.756.2468.