Does our Hotel or Resort need to be PCI Compliant?

Answer two simple questions to determine your PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliance:

• Does your business accommodate credit card information in any form?
• Does your business house credit card information on servers, whether lease through third party providers or fully owned?

If you answered yes to either of these questions then your business is responsible for complying with PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard).

PCI DSS applies to every hotel property that processes credit or debit card information. Credit card companies have the ability to levy stiff fines and remove a property’s ability to process credit card transactions until they meet PCI compliance guidelines. PCI Standards High Points as defined by the PCI Security Standards Council

The core of the PCI DSS is a group of principles and accompanying requirements, around which the specific elements of the DSS are organized:

Build and Maintain a Secure Network

1. Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data
2. Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters Protect Cardholder Data
3. Protect stored cardholder data
4. Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program
5. Use and regularly update anti-virus software
6. Develop and maintain secure systems and applications Implement Strong Access Control Measures
7. Restrict access to cardholder data by business need-to-know
8. Assign a unique ID to each person with computer access
9. Restrict physical access to cardholder data Regularly Monitor and Test Networks
10. Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data
11. Regularly test security systems and processes Maintain an Information Security Policy
12. Maintain a policy that addresses information security

Suggested Links
https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/
http://www.forrester.com/rb/