Any kind of eCommerce is one way or another based on the fact that buyers who want to purchase goods will have to pay for it. Despite the fact that cash-on-delivery is still a very popular payment method, the buyers most often use his debit or credit cards to pay for the orders. In this case, the owner of the online store will have to deal with the personal data of users which includes their private financial information. In order to prevent the payment data of customers from becoming public, a reliable security compliance standard for payment data transfer, PCI DSS, was developed.
Understanding PCI DSS definition
PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) – the security standard of the payment card industry data. In other words, this is a documentation with a list of criteria that a service must comply with if it somehow manages things as the card number, its validity period and CVV-code.
The rules of the “safe game” are created by the special organization PCI SSC (Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council), formed by five largest payment systems (for example, Visa and MasterCard). The rules of the Council should be followed by companies wishing to obtain the badge “PCI DSS Certified”. It is necessary to pass certification every year.
Why complying with PCI DSS is so important to eCommerce business
PCI DSS is a mandatory industry regulation for eCommerce. Becoming compliant can help your business and avoid future problems with data security.
How PCI DSS can help your business
- Identify risks in the way you store or transmit customer data
- Set a clear path of action to address any data security risks
- Make sure your service providers do not put your data security at risk
- Show your customers that you take data security seriously
How PCI DSS can help you avoid problems
- Reduce the risk of liabilities such as the cost of any fraud on compromised card accounts
- If your security is breached, legal and investigation costs can be substantial
- Protect your reputation and build trust with your customers
- Prevent disruption to your business
What happens if eCommerce business doesn’t comply with PCI DSS
Unprotected, your online store or marketplace can become a target for the hackers looking for the quick bucks. Having your security breached can result in unbearable consequences for your business.
- You can receive lawsuits from your customers if they find out their data became public. Compensations and legal action costs can be too costly to survive.
- If you are a big enough player on the commercial field, the Federal Trade Commission, which has the task of monitoring organizations who have failed to comply with PCI and thereby affected large numbers of U.S. citizens, may want to audit you regularly from here on out. They also may decide to fine you themselves.
- You can also be fined by the card schemes (MasterCard, Visa etc.) when a data breach occurs.
- You’re also going to have internal remediation costs: costs to investigate what happened, improve your security posture, fire and hire employees or whatever it takes to fix your internal information security environment.
- Your reputation will be ruined. As soon as people know your data has been hacked, compromised, or otherwise messed with, your customers will be leaving trails of dust behind them in their effort to get far away from you.
You can see how the total costs of a data breach can easily reach into the millions. With consequences like these, you don’t want to risk a PCI compliance failure.
What should I do to comply with PCI DSS?
The first thing to do will be to find yourself a reliable quality security advisor who will explain the entire procedure, important details, and who will draw you a complete roadmap of the certification process as it can take some time. This advisor will lead you step by step through the whole way, ensuring that you are well-prepared for the certification. Make ready PCI by following the guidance provided and implementing the necessary steps outlined by your security advisor.
The second step will be finding a technical expert that will be able to configure the entire website infrastructure to meet the strict requirements to comply with PCI DSS. The complicity of the task can make it too time-consuming for the executor in case they don’t have enough practice – no documentation, no procedures described, no successful cases. Hiring unqualified technical specialist may result in extra time and money spendings as unsuccessful certification will lead to revising the mistakes, amendments and, probably, searching for a better technician.
We can help you with PCI DSS compliance. Not only we know and follow the latest guidelines of the regulators to help our clients to comply with PCI DSS, but we also do it with a margin, considering possible toughening of requirements in the future to make certification next year much easier. Being a client of AWS Cloud Hosting by Simtech Development you will enjoy the simplicity and the speed of getting ready for the certification with us. If you are a client of another hosting provider, some difficulties might apply. Contact us for more information or… move to AWS Cloud Hosting.
GET READY FOR PCI DSS COMPLIANCE NOW
Don’t postpone PCI DSS certification for a distant date. Never save money on security – it’s too expensive.
