A PCI DSS compliance assessment is rigorous examination of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, which consists of over 350 individual controls and is a critical part of staying in business for any merchant, service provider, or subservice provider who is involved in handling payment cardholder data. As a merchant, service provider, or subservice provider who stores, processes, or transmits cardholder data, you are required to comply with the PCI DSS.

There are a series of situations under which your organization may be required to undertake a formal assessment of its compliance to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). The definition of who must have a formal assessment performed is determined by card brand entities such as Visa, MasterCard, and American Express, by individual ISOs, as well as banks and other processors who service merchants.

You might need an assessment if any of the following situations apply:

• You are a merchant or service provider doing more than six million transactions annually.
• You are a merchant or service provider doing more than six million transactions annually and you do not have a PCI Certified internal assessor on your staff.
• You are a merchant or service provider that has been breached in the past or otherwise
• You are a merchant or service provider that has been deemed to represent exceptional risk.
• You are service provider to merchants that can impact the security of their payment transactions and you have access to more than six million transactions annually.

A PCI DSS Assessment is a detailed review of an organization’s card data environment using a standard methodology and reporting format that results in a Report on Compliance solution. This is commonly referred to as the first level of compliance validation.

PCI audits are conducted by Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs), professionals who are certified on an annual basis to assess and validate compliance with the PCI DSS standards. The PCI Security Standards Council maintains an in-depth certification process for companies and their employees seeking QSA certification.

For merchants and service providers that handle less than 6 million transactions annually, PCI DSS offers the option of Self-Assessment Questionnaires (PCI SAQ). This is a self-validation tool to assess if the business meets the compliance guidelines. You can find the SAQ .This ensures the security of your organization and cardholder data. It also helps build the trust with clients and end-users – delivering the confidence that you are looking out for their data.

PCI has nine different SAQs from which a merchant can choose from. How you process credit cards and handle cardholder data determines which SAQ your business needs to complete. The best way to know what SAQ is required or should be pursued, contacting us for a complimentary discussion and Q & A session which can help you navigate your choices and determine where you may or may not need to expend your energy and focus.

PCI QSA Assessment firms are independent security and compliance organizations that have been qualified by the PCI Security Standards Council to validate an organizations compliance to PCI DSS standards and attest to those guidelines being followed.

At the start of your engagement, the Certified QSA Assessor assigned to your PCI QSA Assessment will work with you to ensure you have a complete understanding of the process and all related aspects that are specific to your environment. The assigned assessor and their team will perform an in-depth review of each of the requirements through interviews, configuration and documentation reviews, and other forms of compliance evidence to demonstrate compliance with the DSS requirements. The resulting Report on Compliance delivers a single source of truth report and attestation to serve as your proof of PCI Compliance.

Before onboarding a QSA firm to assess security and potential compliance areas of an organization, you and your inhouse staff or ancillary team from the assessment firm should first perform a gap assessment. As part of an overall more comprehensive risk assessment the organization should determine the existing gaps and risk levels of each of its assets.

Digital Forge and its various segmented divisions is able to perform those gap assessments as part of an overall engagement while continuing to maintain objectiveness and zero conflict of interest concerns. Different divisions have different functions and scope within an assessment and are able to operate independently while maintaining objectiveness.