So your organisation is PCI compliant – Well done! You have taken the first step toward fostering a secure environment for your organisation and customers.

But here’s the bad news… Achieving compliance is the easy part.
The hard part is what comes next: staying compliant.
PCI compliance is like servicing your car. You don’t do it once and expect it to never run into problems again.
Remember, even not being compliant for just one second can leave you vulnerable to data breaches.
And the only way to prevent the impacts of non-compliance is through continuous adherence to PCI standards.
So how do you stay PCI compliant? Here are three things every organisation should be doing to stay up to standard.
Allocate resources to PCI compliance consistently 
Just like maintaining anything, PCI compliance requires a regular commitment.
Continuing to meet PCI obligations requires –
People
Just like keeping your office clean requires a dedicated cleaner or cleaning team; you will need a dedicated PCI compliance team.
Is there someone in your organisation in charge of PCI compliance?
Is there a team that supports this person in maintaining compliance?
Ensure that your team receives the required resources and training to efficiently and effectively ensure compliance.
Processes
Processes will be your PCI Compliance for Dummies handbook, containing easy-to-follow instructions on how to install, maintain, and troubleshoot the tasks required to maintain compliance. To account for the regular changes in the PCI environment, you should update these processes regularly.
Technology 
Technology is the most critical piece in the PCI puzzle – People and processes are useless without it! Technology is the software you will need installed to easily undertake, monitor and maintain activities that keep you PCI compliant. You will need to update your technology at least every few years (and with it, update your processes and re-train your people).
And if you don’t think you have the team on hand, we can help. To see how we can help maintain PCI compliance in your organisation, get in contact with us for a free consultation.
Perform regular evaluations 
How do you know if the security measures you have put in place to stay PCI compliant are working?
Well, the only way to know for sure is to act like a cybercriminal!
Organisations will use red teams, which are people that try to hack into your organisation. If they can, it’s a sure-fire way to know you are not PCI compliant.
In these cyber-attack simulations, you can also use a blue team, which defend against the hackers on the red team.
To test your PCI compliance, you should be running the following assessments:
  • penetration testing
  • internal and external scanning
  • security awareness training
  • compliance review
  • risk assessment
Vulnerability management
Almost all recent data breaches have one thing in common: the organisations didn’t have any vulnerability management programs.
And those organisations would have avoided falling victim to a data breach if they had performed these basic vulnerability scans:
  • application security
  • firewall and router configurations
  • patching and patch management
  • review logs, alerts, and access permissions
  • data integrity assessment
To maintain PCI compliance, organisations should undertake vulnerability scans at least every three months, as well as an annual assessment performed by a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA).
Self-Assessment Questionnaires (SAQs) are also a vital tool for organisations, notably lower-level ones, to assess PCI compliance. There are several kinds of SAQs depending on how you handle card transactions. Get in contact with us to find which SAQ is the right one for your organisation.
Stratica are qualified security assessors and work with organisations to help them maintain PCI compliance.
To find out more about how we can help empower your organisation to meet PCI compliance requirements and keep your organisation safe, get in contact with us today.