PCI compliance – its importance for retailers
PCI compliance can be described as something that demands compliance from all merchants for protecting the vital data of the customers in case they accept payments through credit and debit cards. The compliance is dependent upon the volume of the transaction. The rules of security pin the Payment Card Industry and state the compliance of all those who capture the account numbers of the customers, dates of card expiry, CVV, and other such details. The main principle behind it is to keep the merchant off the risk of credit card fraud accusations. Further, the fines for non-compliance are quite high.
Requirements for proving compliance
The PCI sets down various requirements to define the compliance of the merchants. The primary ones are discussed below:
- Firewall configuration: PCI emphasizes on the importance of configuring an active firewall for the protection of sensitive credit card details. Every merchant must install a firewall and maintain it at all times.
- Data storage: The data collected must be stored in a secure environment. This must be done to ensure that the data cannot be accessed by unauthorized individuals.
- Anti-virus protection: The risks of malware invasion are common in the current digital age. However, it is possible to mitigate the risks by updating the anti-virus program on a regular basis and using it during transactions and other activities.
- Physical access restriction: PCI sets it necessary for the merchants to regulate the physical access of the employees to the information of the cardholders (Beer al., 1995).
- Information security policy maintenance: Information security is a crucial element in today’s business world, and all merchants must have a valid policy implemented for the purpose.
- Unique access ID: The individuals requiring access to the computer systems must be provided unique ID so that it can be possible to track the activities of the users.
It is necessary for the database administrator to be aware of these guidelines at all points of time. The database administrator is responsible for looking after the security of the database containing the sensitive information of the cardholders (Ngugi, Vega & Dardick, 2009).
Issues with non-compliance of the retailer
As mentioned already, the PCI has mandated the compliance of all retailers with its regulations. In case a retailer does not comply, there may be inevitable consequences. The most common ones are discussed below.
- Non-compliance with the PCI can attack enormous fines for the retailer.
- Updating the compliance at irregular intervals can attract more expenses than updating it on a regular basis would incur.
- In worse cases, the PCI can revoke the license of the merchant.
- Certain restrictions can bind the merchant from using certain cards (Clapper & Richmond, 2016).
Data protection is a crucial element on the date and is even more critical for those capturing and storing the financial details of the customers. If the protection is weak, the risks associated are too high. It is thus essential to adopt all possible methods to mitigate the risks of a data breach. Compliance with the PCI is the best approach for retailers.
Reference
Beer, I., Ben-David, S., Eisner, C., Engel, Y., Gewirtzman, R., & Landver, A. (1995, March). Establishing PCI compliance using formal verification: a case study. In Proceedings International Phoenix Conference on Computers and Communications (pp. 373-377). IEEE.
Clapper, D., & Richmond, W. (2016). Small business compliance with PCI DSS. Journal of Management Information and Decision Sciences, 19(1), 54.
Ngugi, B., Vega, G., & Dardick, G. (2009). PCI compliance: overcoming the challenges. International Journal of Information Security and Privacy (IJISP), 3(2), 54-67.