Are You Ready for PCI 4.0? It’s Fast Approaching.

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Compliance mandates are continually evolving to combat ever-sophisticated cybercrime schemes. One of the more substantial updates designed to further protect consumers’ cardholder data is to the PCI DSS compliance requirements. PCI version 4.0 will be mandatory as of March 2024. The time to ensure you meet the new standards is now.

Paying attention today to what needs to be addressed at your organization later can save a lot of headaches, and potentially help you avoid substantial fines for non-compliance. If your organization processes or stores any cardholder data, this update applies to you.

Version 4.0 requirements were updated by the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) in March of 2022 as an update to version 3.2.1 (last refreshed in 2018). With more cards being used on a contactless basis and more payments made in the cloud, this update was due.

Are the 12 Key Controls of PCI DSS Changing?

Simply put: no. While a number of new requirements must be met, they won’t be unfamiliar, as they still fall under and address the 12 key and familiar controls of PCI DSS defined by the PCI Council, a global forum of industry stakeholders. The overall requirements are essentially the same, but v4.0 adds more emphasis on security goals and how they can be met.

The PCI Council’s main goals with the update to 4.0 are to:

• Ensure the payment industry needs are meet by PCI standards: This ensures that security practices evolve as the threats to personal data change and grow. The new requirements expand multi-factor authentication, update password requirements and address e-commerce and phishing.
• Promote security as a continuous process: Just like cybercrime continues forward, so must security as a continuous process to keep a watchful eye on payment methods. The PCI council is requiring clearly assigned roles and responsibilities for each requirement to help this process along.
• Deliver enhanced validation procedures and methods: With clear validation and reporting options in place, transparency and granularity are supported. The Council sites increased alignment between information reported in a Report on Compliance or Self-Assessment Questionnaire and information summarized in an Attestation of Compliance.
• Bring firewall terminology up to date: This should now include reference to network security controls to address a wider range of technology to help meet security objectives previously only met by firewalls.
• Broaden Requirement 8: This requirement will now include multi-factor authentication for access into the cardholder data environment.
• Create more flexibility in how different security objectives can be met with different, demonstrated methods: Per the Council, this will allow for more options to achieve a requirement’s objective and supports payment technology innovation, such as group, shared, and generic accounts.
• Targeted risk analysis: This can provide for organizations to establish how frequently they perform certain activities via a customized approach to implementing and validating PCI DSS requirements to achieve their security objectives.

Is There a Recommended Timeline for Meeting PCI 4.0?

As the old adage says, there’s no time like the present. However, you have some time to implement the required changes. The official requirements go into effect March 31, 2024, with a transition period that ends March 31, 2025. This timeframe allows for organizations to plan and to implement any necessary changes to be in compliance.

It can take some time to ensure your organization is up to speed compliance-wise, and to ensure you are lining up the appropriate resources to ensure you meet the deadline. Allow for the necessary time to evaluate any technologies you may need to add to ensure compliance and review your cybersecurity stance today and what is expected tomorrow. Include employee training as well to better shore up your stance against a data breach of your PCI-related data.

Related Reading: Avoid a PCI Breach; Avoid Costly Consequences

Make PCI Compliance a Part of Overall Cybersecurity Strategy

Following the guidelines set forth by the PCI Council is a requirement, but more than crossing off the mandated steps or processes, compliance should be ingrained in your training, reinforcement of policies and procedures, and overall approach to cybersecurity as a continuum.

One area to be addressed in terms of PCI (and other compliance) requirements is how your organization handles and secures the many files it exchanges each day. Managed File Transfer (MFT) software is one solution many organizations turn to as a proactive way to secure, automate, streamline, and gain more transparency as to how the file transfer process is executed.

Fortra’s GoAnywhere MFT can help meet compliance for PCI DSS as well as other industry compliance mandates. It provides for auditable, centralized and automated file transfers and includes these benefits to make compliance easier: 

• Secure connections for transmitting sensitive data
• Detailed audit logs and reporting
• Encryption of data in motion as well as at rest, including encryption key management
• Keeps PCI data out of the DMZ
• Ports into the private network are closed, to help prevent intrusion

GoAnywhere’s automation and security functionality also helps eliminate costly human errors in handling PCI-related data.

Meeting PCI DSS 4.0 requirements can be easier with strong technology at your side. GoAnywhere gives your organization a boost in satisfying those requirements. Check out this on-demand webinar about GoAnywhere’s PCI DSS Security Settings or download our PCI compliance white paper to learn more. Better yet, let one of our experts show you how GoAnywhere can help you meet PCI 4.0 requirements more easily and securely.