The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) appeared by the major credit card companies to be a tool and a guide for merchants who store, process, and transmit credit card data toward instituting more powerful, Buy prepaid cards with Bitcoin and more sufficient security measures.
In the wake of a number of visible security breaches that have occurred in recent history, consumer attention and paranoia have been focused very heavily on the procedures a merchant may or may not have implemented to protect their sensitive information.
Unfortunately, complying with all the requirements of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard can be a difficult, time consuming, and costly endeavor – enough to make some merchants wait on their PCI deference. The Payment Card Industry has since created a number of benefits and offers… and fines and penalties to encourage merchants to more quickly adhere to their requirements.
But here’s another problem. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is not a static being. It can’t be. The very nature of electronic transactions (either over the web or from a POS system) and the criminals that target them are constantly improving. If the PCI DSS stayed the same as time passes, it would very quickly lose any relevance and usefulness.
Now consider another story. There was once a man named Sisyphus. Sisyphus is famous for a particular endeavor – it goes something such as this: every morning Sisyphus was intended to push a rather large and distressingly heavy (although suspiciously round) rock up an impressively steep hl. Inevitably the suspiciously round rock would immediately roll back off the other side the moment he reached the top, and thus, Sisyphus was cursed to continue this unbelievably frustrating and ineffective task throughout eternity.
The continual struggle to achieve something, despite its secured in a dark unnecessary and unrewarding nature is often referred to as a “Sisyphean task” or “Sisyphean challenge, ” and many merchants fear that keeping up with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard would fall into this category. They feel that no matter how much time, effort, and money they throw at it today, there will you should be something else waiting for them tomorrow.
The question, then, becomes: is this view well founded? And if so, does it really change anything?
The answer the second question first, no. If you wish to continue to accept credit card transactions then nothing changes. You still have to push that rock up the hl, even if it seems like you’ll never be able to stop.
But really, is keeping up with the changing requirements of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard a Sisyphean task? Well, if you define that as a task that is unnecessary and unrewarding, then no. The PCI DSS is anything but that.
Consider the rewards of the PCI DSS – a secure system that customers can feel good about using, a reputation that can be protected, and protection from fines in the case of a breach that may still occur. These should be reason enough to push the rock, especially when you consider examples like the TJX companies who are now the poster child for when there is if you are not PCI compliant (i. e. Massive fines, required security audits, etc, etc. ).
But given the changing nature of the industry, can the task every be truly accomplished? One would think that if Sisyphus was a little more intelligent then somehow he might have managed to balance the boulder up on that peak.
Keeping up with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard can be a similar balancing act. A merchant can reach deference with the 12 requirements of the PCI DSS, and they can stay compliant, but it’s not a simple thing. Let your attention surf and the rock can get away from you. But with some dedication and vigilant, you can keep the rock on top of the mountain and keep your business safe from criminals.