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PCI DSS Compliance Consulting Services
Facilitating PCI Compliance
PCI consulting services by ScienceSoft help merchants evaluate, achieve, and maintain compliance with PCI DSS, as well as enable payment software providers meet the requirements of PCI SSF.
PCI compliance consulting services embrace the assessment and improvement of security policies, procedures, and IT security measures that companies operating with cardholder data employ to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. For payment software vendors, PCI consultancy may cover the evaluation of SDLC, development environment, software architecture and security features, as well as actionable recommendations to achieve compliance with PCI Secure Software Standard and PCI Secure Software Lifecycle Standard.
Who Can Benefit from PCI DSS Consulting Services
Merchants
Entities accepting payment cards of American Express, Discover, JCB, MasterCard, or Visa as payment for goods or services:
- Retail businesses, including e-commerce retailers.
- Travel and hospitality companies.
- Healthcare providers.
- IT and telecom service providers.
- Educational businesses.
- Companies in media and entertainment.
- Financial firms and others.
Service providers
Entities (other than payment brands) directly involved in the processing, storage, or transmission of cardholder data:
- Web hosting companies.
- Payment gateways providers.
- Independent sales organizations.
- Providers of billing account management services and others.
Software manufacturers
Software product companies delivering payment solutions:
- Point of sale (POS) software.
- Payment middleware.
- Card-not-present applications.
- Shopping cart applications.
- Mobile payment acceptance applications and others.
The Scope of Our PCI DSS Compliance Consulting
We conduct complete PCI DSS pre-audits or evaluate compliance with certain PCI DSS requirements and advise on achieving and maintaining PCI DSS compliance.
Risk management advice
- Defining CDE (cardholder data environment).
- Analyzing potential threats to cardholder data and their impact.
- Designing risk mitigation and incident response plan.
Security policies and procedures review and improvement
- Scrutinizing existing policies and procedures on handling cardholder data: cardholder data storage and retention, data transfer, etc.
- Analyzing the detected compliance gaps in the existing policies and procedures.
- Improvement recommendations.
Evaluating and enhancing the security level of software and IT infrastructure
- Vulnerability assessment and penetration testing of IT networks and applications.
- Advising on corrective measures for the detected vulnerabilities.
- Recommendations on improving infrastructure security: e.g., migrating to a secure IT environment, configuring firewalls and antimalware, designing secure network architecture.
Assessing the employees’ PCI security awareness
- Interviewing the employees on PCI DSS requirements.
- Applying social engineering to check the resilience of the staff to human-based cyber attacks.
- Advising on an efficient PCI training process.
Assistance with the transition from PCI DSS 3.2.1 to 4.0
- Gap analysis (comparing to the current PCI DSS version).
- Helping update existing and establish new security policies and procedures.
Maintaining PCI DSS compliance
- Advising on identity and access management.
- Helping establish user activity monitoring.
- Developing continuous vulnerability management plan.
- Scheduling regular penetration testing, including social engineering, etc.
We help software product companies implement PCI SSF requirements and deliver PCI-compliant payment solutions.
Advising on PCI-compliant software development
- Analyzing the security of the established development practices (if regular unit testing is performed, secure coding practices are followed, etc.)
- Vulnerability assessment and penetration testing of the development infrastructure.
- Recommendations on fixing the detected security gaps.
- Establishing the secure development process for PCI-DSS compliant software (description of a secure SDLC, VA and pentesting schedule, etc.)
Software PCI compliance assessment and improvement
- Review of software requirements, gap analysis (if all requirements needed to comply with PCI are in place).
- Analyzing software architecture, advising on improving its security level.
- Source code review and recommendations.
We are ready to complement our PCI DSS consultancy with remediation and managed services to achieve continuous compliance. We can develop efficient security policies, install and configure security components to secure IT networks or the development infrastructure, and design and implement software security features for cardholder data protection.
Sample Deliverables You Get as a Result of PCI Compliance Consulting
During a consulting project, we document its steps and outcomes. We aim to give a clear insight into the process and lay the basis for further implementation of security policies and measures required for full compliance with PCI DSS. Depending on the project, we may provide:
For enterprises
- Compliance scope report (inventory of data, software, and network components that must be compliant with PCI DSS) with recommendations on the scope reduction.
- Report on security policies and controls in place with improvement recommendations.
- Cardholder data security risk report and mitigation plan.
- Network configuration diagrams with improvement recommendations.
- Security testing reports describing and prioritizing vulnerabilities endangering cardholder data with remediation recommendations.
- PCI DSS compliance pre-audit report.
- SOPs aimed at maintaining PCI DSS compliance.
For software manufacturers
- A report on the existing secure development policies and procedures with improvement advice.
- Development infrastructure review report.
- Software threat modeling report.
- Secure software architecture diagrams.
- List of software features required to achieve PCI compliance (tokenization, data masking, etc.).
- Software architecture and source code review reports.
- Secure software pre-assessment report.
It is important to maintain comprehensive and clear documentation of your policies and processes aimed at cardholder data protection: risk assessments, incident response plan, compliance awareness training sessions, etc. It helps make your security practices consistent and transparent. Such documents can serve as a valuable resource for training new staff members, facilitate PCI compliance audits, and demonstrate your compliance efforts to the regulatory authorities. Regularly review and update these documents according to the changes in your IT environment and regulatory requirements.
Looking for a PCI DSS Consultant? Consider ScienceSoft
- Since 2003 in cybersecurity, a solid portfolio of successfully completed projects.
- Microsoft Solutions Partner, 12 years of experience with Azure.
- AWS Select Tier Services Partner, 11 years of experience with AWS.
- ISO 9001-certified mature quality management to guarantee smooth cooperation and value-driving results.
- 100% security of our clients' data ensured by ISO 27001-certified security management system.
- ScienceSoft is a 3-Year Champion in The Americas’ Fastest-Growing Companies Rating by the Financial Times.
Why Businesses Choose PCI Consulting Services by ScienceSoft
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Precise definition of PCI DSS compliance scope and recommendation on its reduction: we will help you avoid excessive costs and efforts of achieving and maintaining compliance with PCI DSS. |
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The expertise of PCI compliance consultants, cybersecurity experts, and software developers: we will competently guide you on both the administrative and technical aspects of PCI DSS. |
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A smooth path from consulting to implementation: we are ready to take over any remediation actions needed to achieve PCI DSS compliance. |
Tools We Use to Evaluate PCI DSS Compliance
Common Questions About PCI Compliance, Answered
Is PCI compliance a certification?
PCI compliance is not a certification but an ongoing adherence to the requirements of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. However, some businesses prefer to obtain official certifications to prove their partners and clients that they can ensure cardholder data security.
Who can certify PCI compliance?
If you want to get a certification proving your PCI DSS compliance, you need to turn to Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs) or Approved Scanning Vendors (ASVs). QSAs are certified by the PCI Security Standards Council to validate the compliance of other companies' policies, procedures, and technical controls. ASVs focus specifically on conducting vulnerability scans to detect potential security flaws.
How long does it take to get PCI certified?
The PCI certification process can take from one to several months. The duration depends mainly on the size and complexity of the compliance scope and the current state of security controls and documentation. If the compliance requirements apply only to a certain system, validating compliance will be much easier and quicker than reviewing the entire IT infrastructure. If any gaps are identified during the compliance review, a company will have to remediate the gaps and validate the new compliance posture before it will be able to get a compliance certificate.
Is it hard to be PCI-compliant?
Achieving and maintaining PCI compliance can be difficult due to the comprehensive requirements that a company has to meet and the technical complexities involved. A competent PCI compliance service provider can facilitate this process with proper planning, experienced specialists, and efficient tools.
What are the four levels of PCI compliance?
Depending on the volume of payment card transactions processed, merchants and service providers belong to one of the four compliance levels that impose broader or narrower compliance obligations.
ScienceSoft as a PCI Compliance Company: Success Stories
Network Vulnerability Assessment Focusing on PCI DSS for a US Mobile Services Provider
ScienceSoft revealed over 300 security issues in the Customer’s internal IT infrastructure, including critical ones that could endanger cardholder data. After fixing these vulnerabilities, the Customer successfully passed PCI DSS validation.
Magento Support, Upgrade, and PCI Compliance Evaluation for an Enterprise Safety Provider
ScienceSoft upgraded a Magento website and helped achieve its PCI DSS compliance. We fixed the security issues detected during a previous PCI DSS audit and performed a new compliance assessment to be sure that all PCI DSS requirements are met.
Penetration Testing of a Bank's Web Applications to Check Cardholder Data Security
ScienceSoft performed 10 different penetration tests to analyze the security of the Customer’s web apps and recommended the Customer to focus on the authentication and data validation issues as fundamental for protecting sensitive payment information according to PCI DSS.
API Security Testing for a European Bank
ScienceSoft's certified pentesters conducted manual and automated API security testing to unearth vulnerabilities endangering cardholder data.
Penetration Testing for an Enterprise Resource Planning Platform
To ensure that the ERP platform meets PCI DSS and NYDFS cybersecurity requirements, ScienceSoft tested the newly added components: a new web application, an API with 100 endpoints, and 5 public IPs, and provided guidance on vulnerability remediation.
Web Application and Network Penetration Testing for a US Contract Services Company
To help the Customer prepare for PCI DSS and SOC 2 compliance audits, ScienceSoft performed gray box penetration testing of 4 web applications, the external network perimeter, and the internal network, and simulated phishing attacks at 70 employees.
Choose Your Service Option
Consulting on PCI-compliant software development
- Helping make security an integral part of SDLC according to the PCI SSF.
- Recommendations on resilient architecture and security features to create PCI-compliant software.
Establishing PCI compliance
- Evaluating the existing security policies, procedures, and technology for cardholder data protection.
- Developing a remediation plan to fix existing compliance gaps and fully meet PCI DSS requirements.
Maintaining PCI DSS compliance
- Guidance on establishing the secure development process in line with PCI SSF.
- Consulting on software and IT infrastructure management to meet the requirements of the latest PCI DSS version (4.0).
Become and Stay PCI-Compliant!
When it comes to PCI DSS compliance, there is no time to spare: your business viability is at stake. Keeping in line with PCI security requirements enables you to avoid the destructive consequences of cardholder data breaches and ensure business continuity.
PCI non-compliance risks
- Losing the right to accept payment cards.
- Reputational losses.
- Legal issues.
- Fines for PCI DSS violation.
- Breach remediation costs.
- Client loss.
PCI compliance benefits
- Reliable cardholder data protection.
- Secured merchant account.
- Reputation of a reliable business.
- Client loyalty.
- Increased customer appeal of your service or product.