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PCI DSS Penetration Testing

Rapid digitalisation has led to exponential growth in demand for online payment options. As a result, cyberattacks against commercial environments have dramatically increased. Regular assessment of your organisation’s systems and processes is among the key controls mandated by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) to protect the cardholder data of your customers.

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PCI DSS Compliance:

The impact of COVID-19

Remote working and increased online payments during the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a 250% increase in cyber-attacks, as reported by the NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre). One of the most effective ways to protect your organisation’s complete cardholder data (CDE) is to identify system issues or vulnerabilities that may compromise your security, before they are exploited by hackers.

Preserve Corporate Image and Customer Loyalty

PCI DSS requirements 6.6, 11.3.1 and 11.3.2 necessitate that internal and external penetration testing must be performed at least annually and after any significant alterations to your organisation – for example, infrastructure or application updates after installing new system components – to uphold the security of your customers’ private data and prevent damaging financial and reputational loss in the event of a data breach. Proactive testing is the primary strategy to ensure compliance and help prevent incidents before they happen – find out how we can help your organisation:

Gridware Differentiators

Gridware is known for its unparalleled PCI DSS testing services, offering a thorough analysis of current infrastructure and processes by our expert team in Sydney and Melbourne. We will ensure you continually comply with all PCI DSS requirements and will provide you and your stakeholders with easy-to-understand recommendations. Gridware's expert Assessment Suite untangles the complex nature of PCI DSS requirements to provide fast turnaround, coupled with a wealth of expertise and an enviable list of commercial and government clients.

We are proud to be CREST (Council for Registered Ethical Security Testers) Certified, a result of our expertise in the protection of Australian organisations. Employing the highest quality cybersecurity talent in the market, we continue to offer our clients results that speak for themselves, averting downtime and costly damage to their finances or reputation.

The Gridware PCI DSS Testing Approach

Gridware’s PCI DSS penetration services are an integral aspect of cybersecurity assessment, designed to identify and remediate vulnerabilities, ensuring that your organisation is within PCI DSS standards. In doing so, our highly skilled pentesting team will also assess your network infrastructure and applications from both inside and outside your organisation’s network environment.

To define the scope of your assessment, the Gridware management team will meet with you to discuss your PCI DSS compliance needs and the requirements for your internal network. A report will also be constructed to notify you and your stakeholders of the nature and timeline of your assessment.

The test results are collated and intricately analysed into a report that describes the approach and findings.

Gridware’s penetration testing team will then establish the number of network assets within the defined scope of your organisation’s CDE, identifying any existing technology that is not within the PCI DSS requirements or may compromise cardholder security.

Gridware’s expert recommendations are organised by their risk factor and coupled with easy-to-understand requirements for you and your stakeholders to apply efficiently.

Gridware’s penetration testers assess the network and applications for potential non-compliance following OSSTMM (Open-Source Security Testing Methodology) and OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project)’s Top 10 Application Security Risks.

After confirmation that your organisation has implemented Gridware’s remediation activities, a re-verification test will be conducted to ensure that all changes have been made correctly and all PCI DSS requirements have been fulfilled.

Game-changing:

Key Benefits

Gridware’s services will help you take preventive action to avoid the cost of vulnerabilities and non-compliance which may result in a cyber attack or legal complications. Testing is effective at ensuring an organisation’s CDE is protected from cybersecurity breaches and their resulting impacts. It can be a game-changing move in taking your organisation’s security systems from below-average to strategically in tune with the latest threats and challenges pertaining to PCI DSS requirements.

Professionally comply with all PCI DSS requirements
Defend your target environment from cyber criminals with both outsider and insider access to your trusted networks
Provide your customers with guaranteed and Gridware-accredited safety of their credit card information
Avoid financial and reputational damage associated with a cyber attack - Remediate your most at-risk vulnerabilities quickly and safely
Justify investment into strengthening your security systems and databases that store, process or transmit cardholder data
Give customers the confidence they need

PCI DSS penetration testing is a proactive way of shaping mature cybersecurity strategies by testing compliance before something can go wrong.

Gridware is proud to be CREST (Council for Registered Ethical Security Testers) Certified.

PCI DSS Penetration Testing FAQs

Why do the PCI DSS requirements exist?

The PCI DSS requirements exist to protect customers that purchase goods or services online. A business that complies with the PCI DSS requirements can guarantee their customers a safe transaction, by protecting their stored cardholder data from malicious cybercriminals.

Why should my business comply with PCI DSS requirements?

An organisation that is compliant with PCI DSS requirements provides their customers with assurance that the money they spend at your business will not be compromised, as well as benefit your organisation and its stakeholders by avoiding the financial and reputational loss that results from a cyberattack of your stored cardholder data.

Why should a PCI DSS penetration test be done by an external provider?

Utilising a highly skilled and CREST-accredited external provider, such as Gridware, provides your organisation with an unbiased and professional penetration test that assesses both your internal and external networks from the perspective of a hacker. Partnering with Gridware will guarantee that your organisation will not only uphold PCI DSS requirements to the highest standard but will also protect your network and applications from present and future vulnerabilities.

What can a Gridware PCI DSS penetration test identify?

Gridware will guide your organisation through any vulnerabilities that may be exploited by criminal attackers and ensuring organisational compliance with PCI DSS by helping to identify:

Encryption flaws
Coding vulnerabilities like XSS and SQL injections
Broken authentication and session management
Improper access controls
Unauthorised wireless access points

How long does a PCI DSS penetration test take to complete?

Typically, PCI DSS penetration tests are completed within 1-4 weeks, depending on the scope of the PCI DSS program.

How much does a wireless network penetration test cost?

The cost of PCI DSS penetration testing will depend on the scope of the PCI DSS compliance program. In our experience, most companies looking to undertake PCI DSS penetration testing can require between 1-4 weeks of testing to complete.

Customer Stories

Gridware has acted for hundreds of companies and helped them recover from potentially disastrous situations. Read about how our services have helped others: