What is PCI DSS?

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of security requirements managed by the PCI Security Standards Council (founded by Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover and JCB) for any organisation that stores, processes or transmits cardholder data. Compliance involves passing an annual assessment (a self-assessment questionnaire for smaller merchants or an audit by a Qualified Security Assessor for larger ones) and quarterly network scans. Non-compliance can result in fines from the card schemes and, in the event of a breach, the merchant bearing the full cost of fraudulent transactions.