PCI DSS 4.0: A Complete Guide

In 2022, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) released its 4.0 update with compliance required in two phases over 2024 and 2025. As it comes into effect, many are still trying to catch up on the new standard and familiarize themselves as to why it was introduced to begin with.

PCI DSS 4.0 has expanded significantly on the now-retired PCI 3.2.1, bringing updates to old requirements and including a variety of new aspects. Staying on top of these changes is vital for any organization that offers card payments, especially those operating globally.

Contents

• What is PCI DSS?
  
• What is PCI DSS 4.0?
• The Reason Behind the Shift to PCI DSS 4.0
• PCI DSS Changes at a Glance
• When Does PCI DSS 4.0 Go into Effect?
• PCI DSS 4.0 and Prescient Security
  

What is PCI DSS?

The PCI DSS is a set of security standards designed by the PCI Security Standard Council, a global organization formed by three major credit card companies, including American Express, Mastercard, and Visa. The standard is intended primarily to ensure that card payments are more secure and cardholder data is better protected against the threat of theft and fraud.

What is PCI DSS 4.0?

PCI DSS 4.0 is the most recent version of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. It’s been updated to reflect the changing needs of the payment card industry, both in terms of security and how organizations can approach meeting the requirements.

The PCI Security Standard Council took feedback from various stakeholders into account for the new standards and have updated them to be more in line with general compliance trends. Where standards such as these used to have a more reactive stance, they've become more proactive in nature, embracing continuous improvement in order to stay ahead.

The Reason Behind the Shift to PCI DSS 4.0

Payment technology has evolved significantly in recent years and with that, security threats. The shift to PCI DSS 4.0 is all about strengthening the standard so that organizations and their customers aren’t accidentally left vulnerable in the evolving payment landscape.

A big driver behind the update can also be pinned on the shift in the types of organizations that rely on the PCI DSS. There’s been a far greater push in recent years for flexible security solutions that can scale with businesses and be implemented to suit their specific contexts. Small businesses or those in niche industries have different requirements, and instead of ignoring that, the PCI DSS 4.0 has sought to take that into account, making the standard more useful and resilient.

PCI DSS Changes at a Glance

The PCI DSS 4.0 has brought with it over 100 new requirements and multiple updates. Here are the highlights:

A Customized Approach for Implementing and Validating PCI DSS

There’s no single, perfect approach to data security. Varying methods can be used to address different aspects in terms of data needs, industry specifics, etc. The new PCI DSS standard embraces that fact. Instead of forcing all organizations to implement and validate the same security control in the same manner, there’s now significant flexibility.

Organizations can use their own security methods as long as they meet the main criteria of the standard. The task of the assessor is then to validate the effectiveness of an organization’s security controls. This makes it far easier for organizations to customize their security approach, embrace new technologies, and better apply the standards according to their exact security objectives.

Updated Data Security Requirements

Requirements regarding issues such as the encryption of cardholder data, vulnerability management, sensitive data storage, and access privileges have been updated. The changes are designed to strengthen these areas and better consider the safety of data when it’s both at rest and in transit.

New Requirements

Phishing and e-skimming attacks have become a far greater threat since PCI 3.2.1 was implemented. The new requirements in PCI DSS 4.0 are meant to address these issues so that cardholders and the payment industry, in general, aren’t so vulnerable to these and other newer threats. There are also fresh guidelines on incident response plans, meaning that organizations are required to have a robust strategy for responding to cardholder data security issues.

Continuous Security Processes and Visibility

The 4.0 version of PCI places greater emphasis on the need for long-term data security maintenance. The standard requires access privileges to be reviewed twice a year, more regular penetration testing and vulnerability scanning to occur, and for organizations to have automated tools in place that continually detect and protect against cyber security threats.

Enhanced Authentication Measures

The new standard has taken a firmer stance on authentication practices and now requires organizations to have much stronger password policies. PCI DSS 4.0 provides specifications on how frequently passwords must be changed and the complexity requirements they have to meet.

The enhanced authentication measures also include mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA) to be implemented for every account with cardholder data access. This means that some kind of code or other verification step has to be submitted alongside a password for authentication. It’s an update that very much reflects current cyber-security norms and points to the modernization that’s occurred with this latest standard.

Collaboration With Auditors

This isn’t necessarily a change in the standard itself but rather how it needs to be approached. Because of the many changes that PCI DSS 4.0 brings, it’s vital that organizations not wait until the compliance stage to collaborate with auditors. The most effective way to align with PCI DSS 4.0 and its updates is to bring auditors in right at the start, when security measures are first being designed and implemented.

Improved Validation Methods

The standard does a better job than the last of providing clear validation and reporting options. There’s more transparency and detail given in the document on how organizations can go about the compliance process.

Enhanced PCI DSS Assessment Reports

One of the key features of the above is that PCI DSS 4.0 has greatly improved its self-assessment questionnaire and report on compliance template. Both of these act as important guides for organizations when self-attesting.

When Does PCI DSS 4.0 Go into Effect?

PCI DSS 4.0 technically went into effect on March 31^st, 2024 already, but assessments only began including them after that date, so if organizations haven’t been assessed yet, there’s still time to comply. There’s also a slightly different timeline for future-dated or new requirements. These only need to be validated from March 31^st, 2025, but if they’ve already been implemented, it’s worth getting this process completed sooner.

PCI DSS 4.0 and Prescient Security

Any organization that accepts, processes, stores, or transmits credit card data benefits from having proper payment security assessments. It ensures not only that organizations meet PCI standards but that cardholder data is managed securely and customer relationships protected in the process.

Whether you’re a small business looking to comply with PCI DSS 4.0 or a larger enterprise, we offer a number of assessment services at Prescient Security that can be tailored to your needs. Additionally, we facilitate self-assessments and offer penetration testing to help expose possible cybersecurity vulnerabilities and better comply with PCI.

Click here to learn more about our PCI assessment approach or here to talk with one of our experts.