The rise of digital payments has made it easier for small businesses to access global markets, but it’s also raised concerns about cybersecurity and compliance. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) was designed to address both concerns by standardizing how businesses protect payment card account data.

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The challenge is how resource-intensive the data security measures required by the PCI DSS can be to implement and maintain. Small businesses rarely have the dedicated cyber teams that larger counterparts might, or the time and money. Tackling PCI DSS compliance thus requires a more strategic approach.

It’s not about taking shortcuts. It’s about understanding where PCI DSS compliance is necessary for your business, how it fits into the global trade context, and then taking the most efficient steps to ensure it.

Understanding PCI Compliance in Global Trade

Operating across global markets invariably makes compliance more complex. Different regions have their own laws and penalty structures to contend with. This is where PCI DSS compliance becomes crucial. Even as new data privacy and cybersecurity laws have come into play PCI DSS remains the baseline for the protection of payment card account data. It’s what most regulatory bodies use as a reference point and thus the simplest way for small businesses to ensure overall compliance, no matter where payment transactions take place.

The financial cost of skipping compliance isn’t limited to regulatory issues, though. Unaddressed weaknesses can result in expensive data breaches. In 2019, Wawa experienced a point-of-sales breach via a phishing attack that affected 34 million cards and cost the convenience and gas station chain $48.8 million in settlements. UK retail giant M&S had to shut down online orders for weeks as it addressed its own breach and lost millions in sales in the process. Cases like these illustrate how far-reaching the impact of an attack can be and why PCI DSS compliance is so necessary, especially in the context of global trade.

The reputational damage of a publicized breach can be almost as costly as the breach itself. 

This matters because PCI DSS compliance is not uniformly enforced across the world: in some regions, acquirers do not actively monitor compliance status or require annual validation. Where that regulatory  pressure is absent, the case for compliance rests less on avoiding penalties and more on what a breach would do to a business’s standing with its customers and partners. 

Responsible businesses should therefore weigh the cost of reputational harm – not just the settlement and recovery costs of the breach itself, as a primary reason to comply. Maintaining PCI DSS compliance signals serious intent and offers reassurance to international customers and partners. This is particularly valuable for SMEs looking to expand and build trust in markets where compliance with the standard is expected even if it is not formally policed.

Identifying Risks and Vulnerabilities in Payment Processing

One of the most effective ways to identify non-compliance and payment security vulnerabilities is with a PCI DSS assessment. This starts with having a clear understanding of business operations and processes related to the acceptance, processing, transmission, and storage of payment card account data. Armed with that understanding, you can determine the scope of your assessment and the PCI DSS requirements that need to be implemented.

Assessment may involve completion of an applicable PCI DSS self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) or you may need to engage a PCI Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) to support your assessment. You may also require regular vulnerability scans by PCI-approved third-party experts (Approved Scanning Vendors). These scoping and assessment activities can illuminate where compliance is needed, where it’s not, and where small businesses may even be able to cut back exposure.

For example, many businesses are guilty of storing and transmitting cardholder data where it isn’t necessary. British Airways was fined £20 million for a data breach in 2020 and illustrated exactly how risky it can be for businesses to hold onto cardholder account data that they don’t need. In the case of BA, that included card and CVV numbers that were then exposed.

Even temporary storage can lead to liability exposure and considerably extend the PCI DSS assessment scope and the effort required to achieve compliance. Limiting storage to PCI DSS compliant third parties can reduce risk significantly. That said, external partners can also be the source of vulnerabilities, as was the case for the sites that were exposed to card-skimming code via Picreel, an analytics and optimisation tool. PCI DSS accounts for attacks like this by requiring checks on the scripts that run on payment pages, and detection plans for potential tampering. 

Another common risk factor that PCI DSS addresses is outdated payment infrastructure. Hackers often target small businesses, banking on the fact that the plug-and-play systems they tend to use are unlikely to have been maintained. A recent example of this is the Funnel Builder WordPress plugin, which was hacked and hit with a card skimmer. Even after a patch fix, many customers remained on the old version of the plug-in and were thus left vulnerable.

Cross-border transactions that pass through multiple intermediaries can also create weak spots. Different regions and vendors may be subject to varying security standards, which can result in inconsistencies that then create compliance and data protection vulnerabilities. Here again, PCI DSS compliance can ensure greater protection.

Implementing Effective Security Measures

The first step in implementing effective security measures is defining the scope by mapping data flows and keeping track of transaction numbers. Both will shape PCI DSS compliance. Gathering this information upfront enables more strategic security decisions and saves businesses the costs of excess compliance measures.

The actual security measures that PCI DSS calls for overlap with many simple, good-practice  cybersecurity requirements. Secure networks restricting inbound and outbound traffic, regular vulnerability scanning, anti-malware protections, security awareness training, and proper access control and authentication systems are hardly novel. The benefit of this is that they’re possible to integrate into the foundations of a business’s cybersecurity strategy and don’t necessarily need to be seen as a parallel addition. In fact, payment data security measures are more effective when approached this way, as well as being more cost-efficient.

It’s vital too that as businesses pursue their own security measures, they check that the third parties they rely upon are doing the same. The PCI DSS is clear on the fact that when a business chooses to use a third-party service provider – whether that is to store, process, or transmit payment card account data or to manage systems on their behalf – they retain responsibility for ensuring the protection of their customers’ payment card account data.

Technical security measures also need to be accompanied by policies, processes, and operational procedures that are not just documented but also known to and in use by all the affected parties. This is as important for compliance as it is for consistency and competitiveness. It’s what ensures scalability and overall effectiveness of the security measures.

Another factor to note is how important it is to monitor for changes in the threat landscape and respond to them quickly. The effectiveness of security measures will change over time. Not only will the external threats evolve, but also as a business grows, changes in processes or how payment card data is handled will impact security

Training Employees and Building a Compliance Culture

Threats to payment security and PCI DSS compliance often enter because of human vulnerability, not just system weaknesses. All personnel with security responsibilities for protecting payment card account data or that can impact the security of that data, including full-time and part-time employees, third parties, service providers, contractors and consultants, temporary employees, and/or other staff members, need to be trained on how to spot and respond to evolving phishing attempts and other attacks. Preferably through real-world examples and simulations. Training sessions don’t need to be technical; they just need to make personnel aware of red flags, how to “take your time and think twice”, and how to escalate suspicions.

Compliance culture is also built through clear lines of responsibility. Assigning ownership for PCI DSS-related compliance and processes to specific individuals ensures that there is always someone whose job it is to check that compliance is in order and prevent it from being left as an afterthought. Everyone needs to be aware of and understand their role and responsibilities in keeping the business secure.

Staying Ahead with Continuous Compliance

The PCI DSS is only revised every few years, but businesses are expected to maintain their compliance continuously and to assess it annually. Within that, monitoring, regular vulnerability scanning and other checks are required to keep payment processes and data safe. The benefit of continuous compliance is that it puts businesses ahead of potential cyber threats and makes it far easier to keep up with global compliance pressures. 

Compliance isn’t just about reducing risk. It increases growth opportunities. Businesses that maintain their compliance are better positioned to expand their trade into new territories and build reputations that stand the test of time.

Authors Bio

Chris Brown is a senior cybersecurity and product marketing leader with over 15 years of experience across cybersecurity, information systems auditing, product management, and marketing. As a Senior Product Marketing Manager at VikingCloud, Chris helps businesses understand how to navigate complex security challenges through solutions that support secure, uninterrupted operations and align with risk management frameworks.

Prior to joining VikingCloud, Chris led product management initiatives for over a decade, building software and services that enable clients to confidently navigate risk and compliance obligations. Now in marketing, he leverages that same understanding to connect customers with the tools and services they need to secure their systems and make informed decisions.

Chris holds a BSBA from the University of Colorado at Boulder, with dual emphases in Accounting and Operations & Information Management. He also maintains several industry certifications, including CISSP, CISA, CRISC, and PCIP.