PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a security standard for protecting credit card transactions. It was established from five previous security programs setup by the major credit card companies, which all shared similar goals. In 2004 the first version of PCI DSS was established and the major vendors adopted it. There have been several revisions and updates to the requirements since that time. Any organisation that wants to handle data related to credit card transactions, from the main credit card companies, have to configure their network and server infrastructure in compliance with the PCI DSS requirements. Failure to do so can result in them losing the ability to store and process credit card transaction data.