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PCI DSS Compliance
Picus empowers organizations to maintain continuous PCI DSS compliance by moving beyond theoretical checklists to evidence-based validation. Our platform actively simulates real-world attack scenarios to verify that critical controls are effectively blocking threats.
By identifying gaps in security defenses, Picus streamlines audit preparation with concrete proof of enforcement, prioritizes remediation based on actual risk, and ensures your Cardholder Data Environment (CDE) remains secure against evolving threats.
What is PCI DSS Compliance?
PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is a global baseline of technical and operational requirements designed to encourage and enhance the security of account data, which includes both cardholder data (CHD) and sensitive authentication data (SAD). It applies to all entities involved in payment account processing, including merchants, processors, acquirers, issuers, and service providers, that store, process, or transmit account data, as well as those that could impact the security of the cardholder data environment (CDE)
The standard is organized into six goals comprising 12 principal requirements, which mandate critical controls such as building secure networks, maintaining vulnerability management programs, implementing strong access control measures, and regularly testing networks. Rather than a one-time checklist, PCI DSS emphasizes integrating security into business-as-usual (BAU) processes to ensure defenses remain effective continuously, thereby mitigating the risk of data breaches and frau
Support PCI DSS Compliance and Safeguard Payment Data with Continuous Validation
Why PCI DSS Matters
PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is essential because it establishes a global baseline of technical and operational requirements designed to protect account data. Its primary goal is to secure cardholder and sensitive authentication data against threats, thereby minimizing the risk of security breaches and fraud for all entities involved in payment processing.
Compliance ensures that critical security controls are integrated into business-as-usual processes, helping to maintain the environment's security between assessments . It drives organizations to identify and mitigate risks ensuring a robust security posture regarding payment account data.
6 Goals of PCI DSS Compliance
- Build and Maintain a Secure Network and Systems
- Protect Account Data
- Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program
- Implement Strong Access Control Measures
- Regularly Monitor and Test Networks
- Maintain an Information Security Policy
Benefits of Security Control Validation for PCI DSS Compliance
Validate security controls across 12 principal requirements, including building secure networks and protecting account data, to confirm they secure the cardholder data environment (CDE).
Generate data-driven evidence of control performance and "Business-as-Usual" (BAU) activities to simplify the assessment process and support Report on Compliance (ROC) documentation.
Go beyond simple presence checks by continuously testing critical security controls to ensure they are actively running, correctly configured, and capable of detecting and blocking real-world threats.
Rank security gaps based on actual exploitability and risk, enabling security teams to focus on fixing critical vulnerabilities that could impact the security of cardholder data and/or authentication data.
What PCI DSS Compliance Requires
PCI DSS organizes its 12 principal requirements into six overarching goals:
1. Build and Maintain a Secure Network and Systems
Picus continuously validates rules of firewalls and other security controls and system hardening to ensure that defenses effectively block malicious traffic and maintain secure configurations.
2. Protect Account Data
Picus simulates data exfiltration, network, and endpoint attacks to verify that encryption and access controls effectively safeguard stored and transmitted cardholder data.
3. Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program
Picus tests anti-malware efficacy against real-world samples and identifies exploitable vulnerabilities to prioritize remediation efforts.
4. Implement Strong Access Control Measures:
Picus simulates lateral movement and credential attacks to verify that access is restricted and authentication cannot be bypassed.
5. Regularly Monitor and Test Networks
Picus automates security testing and generates controlled attack traffic to confirm that logging and monitoring systems accurately detect and alert on suspicious activity.
6. Maintain an Information Security Policy
Picus provides objective data and evidence to support risk analysis, validate policy enforcement, and test the effectiveness of incident response plans.
Reduce Compliance Risk with Security Validation for PCI DSS
Picus helps organizations minimize PCI DSS compliance risk by continuously validating security controls, detecting vulnerabilities, and ensuring proactive protection of cardholder data.
Picus enables organizations to:
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Continuously test security controls
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Detect and fix vulnerabilities quickly
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Simplify compliance audits
With Picus, PCI DSS compliance is easier to achieve and maintain.
PCI DSS Requirements Supported by Picus Security
Picus Security helps organizations meet key PCI DSS requirements by providing continuous security validation through automated penetration testing and breach & attack simulations. Below is a list of the PCI DSS requirements supported by Picus, highlighting where we contribute to securing payment card data and supporting compliance efforts.
PCI DSS Requirement |
Picus Capabilities and Features |
Requirement #1:Install and Maintain Network Security Controls |
Picus validates the effectiveness of Network Security Controls (NSCs) by continuously simulating real-world attack scenarios against network infrastructure. It verifies that firewalls and other NSCs are properly configured to block malicious traffic and protect the Cardholder Data Environment (CDE). |
Requirement #2:Apply Secure Configurations to All System Components |
Picus assesses the resilience of system configurations by actively testing them against known threats. Picus simulates attacks to verify that configurations are effectively implemented, policies are active, and specific weaknesses (like default passwords) cannot be exploited to gain unauthorized access. |
Requirement #3:Protect Stored Account Data |
Picus validates the effectiveness of data protection controls by simulating the behavior of an attacker attempting to access and exfiltrate sensitive data. Picus tests the access paths to that data and the prevention mechanisms designed to stop unauthorized retrieval or movement of stored account data. |
Requirement #4:Protect Cardholder Data During Transmission |
Picus validates transmission security by simulating data exfiltration attempts over various protocols. This verifies that network controls and DLP systems effectively detect and block cleartext transmissions, ensuring that strong cryptography is strictly enforced for all data traversing public or untrusted networks. |
Requirement #5:Protect Systems and Networks from Malware |
As a core capability, Picus continuously validates the efficacy of anti-malware solutions by introducing safe, simulated malware behaviour into the environment. This confirms that the anti-malware defenses are active, can detect known and zero-day threats, and can successfully block or contain execution. |
Requirement #6:Develop and Maintain Secure Systems |
Picus helps organizations maintain secure systems by identifying exploitable vulnerabilities that result from software defects or lack of patching. By simulating attacks against web applications, Picus validates defenses like Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) are properly tuned to block web application attacks. |
Requirement #7:Restrict Access to System Components and Cardholder Data by Business Need to Know |
Picus validates the "need to know" principle by simulating privilege escalation and lateral movement. The platform attempts to pivot from lower-privilege zones or user accounts into sensitive areas (like the CDE), proving whether access control rules effectively restrict unauthorized movement. |
Requirement #8:Identify and Authenticate Access to Systems |
Picus validates authentication mechanisms by attempting to bypass them. They simulate credential-based attacks to ensure that user identification and authentication controls are functioning correctly and cannot be circumvented. |
Requirement #10:Track and Monitor All Access |
Picus provides the essential stimulus needed to validate logging and monitoring infrastructure. By generating controlled attack traffic, Picus allows organizations to verify that their SIEM and logging systems are correctly ingesting data, generating logs, and triggering alerts for suspicious activity. |
Requirement #11:Test Security of Systems and Networks Regularly |
Picus serves as a primary technological enabler for meeting Requirement 11. By automating the frequent validation of security controls and identifying critical gaps, Picus transforms security testing from a static, annual activity into a continuous, ongoing process that adapts to evolving threats. As continuous validation is a core capability of the Picus platform, the following items detail how Picus specifically supports the sub-requirements of this standard. |
Requirement #11.1:Processes and mechanisms for regularly testing the security systems and networks are defined and understood. |
Picus provides automated, repeatable testing workflows and centralized reporting that serve as objective evidence that security testing processes are defined, operational, and consistently applied, ensuring that documented security policies are actively enforced and that personnel understand and fulfill their assigned responsibilities for maintaining network defenses. |
Requirement #11.3:External and internal vulnerabilities are regularly identified, prioritized, and addressed. |
Picus facilitates continuous vulnerability management by simulating and emulating attacks to identify which high-risk vulnerabilities are actively exploitable in the current environment, enabling risk-based prioritization of remediation efforts beyond simple CVSS scoring, and providing actionable mitigation signatures and remediation suggestions to address vulnerabilities. |
Requirement #11.4:External and internal penetration testing is regularly performed, and exploitable vulnerabilities and security weaknesses are corrected. |
Picus automates the technical execution of penetration testing activities, from lateral movement to data encryption to data exfiltration, to frequently validate defenses between formal manual tests and ensure remediation is effective. |
Requirement #11.5:Network intrusions and unexpected file changes are detected and responded to. |
Picus generates real-world attack traffic and simulated file modifications to verify that Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems (IDS/IPS) and File Integrity Monitoring (FIM) solutions effectively detect, block, and alert on malicious activity. |
Requirement #11.6:Unauthorized changes on payment pages are detected and responded to. |
Picus simulates web-based attacks against payment page infrastructure to validate that change-detection mechanisms and Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) effectively detect tampering or unauthorized script execution. |
Requirement #12:Maintain an Information Security Policy |
Picus supports the organizational aspect of security by providing the data-driven metrics and evidence needed to inform risk analysis, policy updates, and incident response planning. It bridges the gap between policy definition and technical reality. |
Turn PCI DSS requirements into defensible evidence.
Explore a practical, requirement-by-requirement breakdown of PCI DSS v4.0.1 using real validation outcomes.
Picus for Compliance
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Frequently Asked Questions about NIST Compliance
PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is a global security framework for any business that processes, stores, or transmits credit card information. It mandates 12 strict security requirements, such as encryption and regular testing, to prevent data breaches, protect cardholder data, and ensure secure payment transactions across the payment ecosystem.
PCI DSS standard mandates 12 requirements organized into six core goals: building and maintaining secure networks and systems, protecting cardholder account data, maintaining a vulnerability management program, implementing strong access control measures, regularly monitoring and testing networks, and maintaining an information security policy.
Testing is an ongoing obligation. The PCI DSS requires quarterly internal and external vulnerability scans, as well as penetration testing at least annually or after significant infrastructure changes. Requirement 11 specifically emphasizes continuous security validation to ensure that controls, such as firewalls and intrusion detection systems, remain effective between formal audits.
Non-compliance can result in severe monthly fines ($5,000–$100,000), forensic investigation costs, and liability for fraud-related losses. Beyond financial penalties, a data breach resulting from non-compliance causes lasting reputational damage and can lead to the revocation of credit card processing privileges, effectively preventing your ability to accept payments.
Picus supports PCI DSS compliance by continuously validating the effectiveness of security controls required to protect cardholder data through automated attack simulations aligned with real-world threats. By safely testing preventive, detective, and responsive controls across networks, endpoints, and cloud environments, Picus helps organizations identify gaps in key areas, including vulnerability management, intrusion detection, malware defense, and incident response, all of which are essential requirements under PCI DSS. The platform provides measurable, evidence-based insights and remediation guidance, enabling security teams to demonstrate control effectiveness, prioritize risk reduction, and maintain continuous compliance rather than relying solely on point-in-time assessments.