PCI Scanning and Vulnerability Assessment

PCI Scanning Basics

PCI stands for Payment Card Industry. For most people it means the five major credit card companies. The PCI security standards council was founded by these card companies (American Express, Discover, JCB, MasterCard, and Visa) to create a uniform set of security standards when processing credit card transactions and to protect customer data.

PCI DSS stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. The PCI DSS is a multifaceted security standard that includes requirements for security management, policies and procedures, network architecture, software design and other protective measures. This comprehensive framework is intended to help organizations proactively protect customer account data. In simple terms, these standards are meant to reduce credit card fraud.

PCI for you!
If you are a business accepting payments via credit and debit cards, then you are REQUIRED to comply with these PCI DSS requirements. Don't be fooled into thinking that this does not apply to your business. The most recent changes to the PCI DSS rules make it a mandatory requirement for almost ALL businesses regardless of size and the total number of transactions. In most cases this is part of your member agreement (that fine print no one could read!), that you sign when you decide to accept payments via credit and debit cards. PCI DSS applies to all members, merchants and service providers who process, store, or transmit cardholder data regardless of transaction type (POS, Telephone, Online, etc.).

Become PCI DSS Compliant!

Even though it may seem complicated, getting PCI compliance is not that bad. Merchant Safe has come up with this unique program to help small and medium businesses, who do not have the technical expertise to get PCI compliant in few simple steps.

First, you need to do PCI Scanning (Also known as Vulnerability scanning, or assessment) on your website/server. You need to scan all the IP addresses of your domain that are public. This may include IP address of your domain (static or shared IP), as well as any public IP addresses related to the transaction process itself. In simple layman terms, you need to scan your website IP address and any other IPs related to the third-party shopping cart during checkout process.

Second, you need to send a PCI compliance report (PDF) to your bank or merchant account provider.

Third, you need to send a SAQ report (PDF) to your bank or merchant account provider.

More than PCI Scanning!
Merchant Safe offers more than just PCI scanning! Our solution is designed to help you increase sales on your website. If you want to improve consumer confidence and increase the conversion rate of your website and sell more, then you need a third party trust seal, that verifies not only the security of your website, but also your business credentials. Merchant Safe Security Seal is your easy and AFFORDABLE solution!