The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of comprehensive requirements for enhancing payment account data security. It was developed by the founding payment brands of the PCI Security Standards Council, including American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa International, to help facilitate the broad adoption of consistent data security measures. The University of Washington has a contractual obligation to follow the PCI DSS.
The standard consists of twelve basic requirements, and corresponding subrequirements, categorized as follows:
Build and Maintain a Secure Network and Systems | 1. Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data. |
2. Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters. | |
Protect Cardholder Data | 3. Protect stored cardholder data |
4. Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks | |
Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program | 5. Protect all systems against malware and regularly update anti-virus software or programs. |
6. Develop and maintain secure systems and applications. | |
Implement Strong Access Control Measures | 7. Restrict access to cardholder data by business need to know. |
8. Identify and authenticate access to system components. | |
9. Restrict physical access to cardholder data. | |
Regularly Monitor and Test Networks | 10. Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data. |
11. Regularly test security systems and processes. | |
Maintain an Information Security Policy | 12. Maintain a policy that addresses information security for all personnel. |
Meeting the twelve requirements are dependent on the type of payment card transactions you are accepting. The table below courtesy of SecurityMetrics illustrates the differences. Please contact pcihelp@uw.edu if you have any questions on determining what type of merchant you are.
SAQ | Description | Number of Questions | Vulnerability Scan | Penetration Testing |
---|---|---|---|---|
A |
E-Commerce website (third party)
|
22 | N | N |
A-EP |
E-Commerce website (direct post)
|
191 | Y | Y |
B |
Processes cards via:
|
41 | N | N |
B-IP |
Processes cards via:
|
82 | Y | N |
C-VT |
Processes cards:
|
79 | N | N |
C |
Payment application systems connected to the Internet:
|
160 | Y | N |
D |
E-Commerce website
Electronic storage of card data
|
329 | Y | Y |
P2PE |
Point-to-Point Encryption
|
33 | N | N |