PCI Compliance Paper

PCI compliance was first introduced in 1999 by Visa, Inc., in the form of the Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP). CISP was developed as Visa’s way to fight rampant cybercrime, which left credit card companies responsible for fraudulent purchases. (Search Security Staff, 2013) However, companies accepting credit transactions did not adopt the standards provided by CISP because they were quite different from the standards presented by other card companies like Discover, MasterCard, and American Express. In December 2004, the five major credit card lenders joined together to create a uniform set of standards called the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). (3Delta Staff, 2014) Merchants now had no choice but to follow the standards as failure to do so could result in financial loss and …show more content…
To decrease the risk that data might become compromised and to lessen the effects in the event of a security breach, it is paramount that all companies transmitting, processing and storing cardholder data maintain compliance.
In 2006, the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) began as an open global forum that was responsible for the “development, management, education and awareness of the PCI Security Standards and requirements.” (PCI Security Standards Council, LLC, 2014). These standards include the Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), the Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS), and the PIN Transaction Security requirements (PTS) (PCI Security Standards Council, LLC, 2014).
In order for companies to maintain compliance with PCI DSS, the PCI SSC established The Prioritized Approach to assist organizations in identifying areas of concern and reducing risk. As part of this approach, six goals were determined to be critical milestones that can be regarded as a roadmap for ensuring protection against security