Organisations typically hire a Payments Forensic Investigator (PFI) when they need to – that is, when they’ve already been hit by a data breach.
But did you know you can engage a PFI if you haven’t had a data breach? What’s more, the specific expertise a PFI has can play a crucial role in preventing breaches from happening in the first place.
But what value does a PFI bring to organisations looking to implement preventive security measures? And how does it stack up against other payment security professionals such as Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs)? Here’s what you need to know.
What is a Retained PFI?
A retained PFI is a PFI that is proactively engaged by an organisation. As a member of the organisation’s cyber security team, a retained PFI is actively involved in day-to-day preventive security measures.
The core strength of a PFI lies in their practical knowledge of how breaches occur. They’ve seen it all: the subtle indicators of compromise, the common attack vectors, the exploitable misconfigurations, and the often-overlooked weaknesses in security architecture. This intimate knowledge of an “attacker’s mindset” and how breaches commonly occur is precisely what makes them invaluable for proactive security.
How PFIs Contribute to Everyday Cyber Security Operations
A PFI’s specialist expertise can help prevent the data breaches they typically investigate before they happen. Here’s how:
Pinpointing Vulnerabilities Before Attackers Do
PFIs are experts at identifying the specific weaknesses attackers target. They go beyond standard penetration testing by simulating real-world attack scenarios, using insights gained from investigating actual breaches. This allows them to uncover risks in systems, applications, and processes that might otherwise go undetected.
Hardening Your Security Architecture
With a deep understanding of how systems are breached, PFIs can assess your organisation’s existing security architecture from an attacker’s point of view. They identify gaps in network segmentation, misconfigurations, and single points of failure, and provide recommendations that lead to more resilient system designs.
Strengthening Your Incident Response Plan
By pressure-testing your existing response plan, PFIs provide practical insights into what works during a crisis. The result? A refined, realistic plan that equips your team to contain and resolve breaches faster and more effectively.
Delivering Real-Time Threat Intelligence
PFIs are on the front lines of emerging attack trends. They share threat intelligence with your organisation to help you stay one step ahead. This real-world knowledge can inform security strategy, guide technology investments, and shape more effective defences.
Validating Compliance With a Forensic Perspective
While Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs) validate compliance, PFIs bring a forensic lens to the same controls. They assess whether your compliance measures are actually effective in stopping attacks, instead of simply meeting audit checklists. This helps organisations avoid the trap of being “compliant but still vulnerable.”
PFI vs. QSA: Which is Better for Preventative Payment Security?
When organisations think about proactive payment security measures, they think of Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs).
A QSA’s primary role is to assess an organisation’s adherence to the PCI DSS. They meticulously review policies, procedures, technical configurations, and evidence to determine if all 12 requirements of the standard are met. Their focus is on compliance with the standard.
A QSA provides a snapshot of an organisation’s compliance at a given time. As PCI DSS compliance measures are designed to minimise the risk of a data breach, QSAs are the first point of call for proactive security. They’re also mandated for organisations that process over 6 million transactions per year.
But PFIs offer something QSAs don’t: real-world attack insight. A PFI’s expertise lies in understanding how data breaches actually happen. Their focus is on exploitability and real-world attack scenarios. While they understand PCI DSS, their value in a preventative context comes from their ability to think like an attacker and identify vulnerabilities that might be overlooked by a compliance-focused assessment.
Think of it this way: A QSA ensures you’re building to code and that all the required safety features are installed. A PFI, on the other hand, acts like an expert burglar, testing your locks, windows, and alarm systems to find the hidden weaknesses that even a well-built structure might possess.
As you can see, QSAs and PFIs bring different skills, experience and expertise to the table. So, there’s no clear-cut answer as to which is the “better” choice. It’s crucial to understand that engaging a PFI for preventative measures is not about replacing a QSA (Qualified Security Assessor). Instead, it’s about leveraging a different, yet complementary, skill set for a more comprehensive security posture.
So ultimately, the best outcome is having both. However, that can be costly. Which is where Stratica comes in.
Stratica – The Only Joint QSA and PFI firm in Australia
Still wondering whether it’s best to engage a QSA or PFI? Why not get both? Stratica is the only Australian cyber security company with qualified QSAs and PFIs.
As PFIs, we help secure your organisation while providing guidance on the relevant PCI DSS compliance measures.
As QSAs, we streamline compliance and provide practical security advice based on real-world data breach scenarios.
Are you interested in finding out more about our PFI offering and how it can help your organisation mitigate risk and prevent a data breach before it happens? Contact our team