Myths and Facts about PCI DSS

PCI DSS is a popular topic among the credit card and financial gurus of industry. A lot has been said and commented upon and some of those are not really true. To really grasp the PCI DSS, one needs to differentiate between many myths that surround it. Here are the five common myths:

1.    Myth: PCI too Hard

“….PCI is too hard, too complicated, too expensive”

With 12 requirements of PCI DSS, it does seem too hard but in actual, PCI DSS is basic and practical security practice that is not really too hard. Even with 12 requirements, many services and products are available to help meeting these requirements with ease. As for being too expensive, the cost of being incompliant is far more in terms of security attacks and legal fines.

2.    Myth: PCI is enough Security

“…We are secure because we got PCI”

PCI is basic security but not necessary enough. There is more to security than just YOU’RE YOUR system is not safe from security attacks unless continuous efforts are made all the time. Assessment and remedies are must since PCI may cover confidentiality but not integrity and availability of data.

3.    Myth: PCI is unreasonable

“..we don’t know what to do”

Many aspects of PCI are already common practice. Standards actually permit compensating controls to meet requirement. PCI DSS documents provide details that significantly benefits merchants and processors. Check out PCI for Dummies for more information.

4.    Myth: Just one tool, product or vendor makes us PCI Compliant

” …I use PA-DSS tools, thus I am PCI OK”

No, it doesn’t make you PCI compliant. No single product or vendor can meet all 12 requirements. So instead of focusing on just one product, make sure to follow complete security strategy and focus on the big picture instead of just one aspect.

5.    Myth: Not enough credit cards to be PCI compliance

“..we don’t need PCI compliance since we don’t deal in credit cards much”

Even if you make just one transaction then you require PCI compliance because it is required for any business that accepts payments. 

So these are some common myths that surround PCI DSS. However, there are more. You can check them out here, here and here.