#pcicompliant

Simple Builds PCI-Compliant IT Environment On AWS

Learn how Simple manages its infrastructure and maintains PCI compliance by using AWS CloudFormation. Learn more about AWS CloudFormation: http://aws.amazon.com/cloudformation.

Making sure your business is compliant by Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI_DSS) is crucial in preventing possible security breaches, and saving your business from potential reputation damage or heavy fines.

Not becoming PCI_DSS Compliant could lead to many consequences, including:

The possibility of a mandatory forensic audit of your business,

Possible victim notifications, card reissuance and chargeback costs,

Data loss and disruption of normal day-to-day operations for your business,

Damage to the reputation and brand of your business, and

Possible heavy fines issued to your business or possible business closure.

How do you make sure these things don’t happen to your business? Well, it’s not as complicated as you may think, and it’s worth the effort.

For starters, contact your merchant processor for information on how to contact your PCI_DSS vendor for information on becoming compliant.

Fill out a self-assessment questionnaire on your business. It’s easy to use, and will help you determine your Validation Type, as defined by PCI_DSS.

If your business has an external-facing IP address or domain, perform a vulnerability scan. This will give you easy-to-read reports that will help guide you to repair any vulnerability that may be detected.

Use Policy Builder programs to gain knowledge and helpful guidance on how to not only become compliant, but remain compliant.

Utilize security awareness training to gain knowledge about PCI_DSS Compliance as well as to prevent your business from having to purchase a more expensive program from a third party.

How do you know if your business needs to be compliant? All merchants that accept, process, transmit or store payment card information must now be PCI_DSS Compliant. There are four basic levels of compliance, making it easy to decipher where your business falls.

Level 4 is for small businesses processing less than 20,000 eCommerce transactions and less than 1 million other transactions each year.

Level 3 is for businesses processing between 20,000 and 1 million transactions annually.

Level 2 is for businesses conducting between 1 million and 6 million transactions annually.

Level 1 is for major corporations having a minimum of 6 million transactions made annually.

In becoming compliant, your business will be charged a fee, which is worth covering in the prevention of security breaches, reputation destruction and heavy fines up to a possible $500,000.