Understanding PCI DSS 4.0

On March 31, 2022, the PCI Security Standards Council rolled out Version 4.0 of the PCI Data Security Standard. This update introduces new guidelines to help protect payment card data, adapting to the evolving digital threat landscape. With the number of requirements increasing from 370 to over 500, it's clear that securing payment data is more critical than ever.

Who should care about PCI DSS 4.0?

Any organization involved in processing, storing, or transmitting payment card data must comply with PCI DSS 4.0. This includes all merchants, payment gateways, service providers, and any entity in the payment processing chain.

Key requirements of PCI DSS 4.0

PCI DSS 4.0 sets forth a comprehensive set of standards to ensure the security of cardholder data, including:

• Securing networks: Establish a robust network to protect cardholder data.
• Protecting stored data: Use encryption and other security measures to safeguard stored cardholder data.
• Access control: Implement strong access control measures to limit data access on a need-to-know basis.
• Vulnerability management: Maintain a program to regularly test systems for vulnerabilities.
• Continuous monitoring: Monitor and test networks continuously to detect unauthorized access.
• Incident response: Enhance incident response plans to quickly address and mitigate data breaches.

Prioritizing your PCI DSS 4.0 compliance efforts

Achieving PCI compliance can be overwhelming. To assist, the PCI Security Standards Council provides a document outlining milestones mapped to each requirement, offering a helpful roadmap for your organization.

Navigating PCI DSS compliance: How Impart Security can assist

Navigating the six critical areas of PCI DSS security is challenging. Organizations must not only ensure their own compliance, but also that of any third parties they engage.

Documenting your security measures

A crucial step in PCI DSS compliance is thoroughly documenting your existing processes, policies, and procedures. This helps in identifying gaps, understanding standards, and strengthening overall security measures. With a clear understanding, you can address each security area, often with third-party support.

Impart's support for PCI DSS 4.0 compliance

Impart provides a comprehensive solution to help organizations meet PCI DSS 4.0 standards through our continuous API security platform.

• API discovery: Achieve full visibility into your API endpoints, data flows, and behavior. This level of insight is essential for identifying endpoints handling sensitive data, including PCI DSS account data, and securing sensitive payment flows.
• Threat detection: Impart's platform, connected to your APIs, gathers extensive data, enabling you to monitor every API connection. You can identify new threats by examining activity logs before and after potential attacks, helping you effectively monitor and test networks.
• Attack protection: Utilizing runtime behavioral analysis, Impart protects against API attacks. Our platform automatically detects, blocks, and alerts you on known and anomalous API attacks, safeguarding against business logic abuse, data exfiltration, and access control issues.
• API security testing: Impart’s platform capabilities allow you to regularly test payment APIs, integrating findings into runtime security policies or sending them to developers for remediation.

By leveraging our robust platform, organizations can confidently address PCI DSS 4.0 requirements, ensuring comprehensive security and compliance.

For more information about our services and the importance of API security, contact us at try.imp.art and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn to stay tuned on more helpful tips and best practices.