GRYHAT
PCI DSS COMPLIANCE

PCI DSS Compliance

Reduce cardholder-data risk with practical PCI DSS controls, network segmentation guidance, and evidence-ready processes built for assessors.

Cardholder Data

Segmentation

Log Retention

Validation Support

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What PCI DSS 4.0 Expects

PCI DSS v4.0 is the mandatory standard for any organization that stores, processes, or transmits cardholder data — and the future-dated requirements that arrived with it are now all in force. The 12 requirements cover firewalls, defaults, stored data, encryption, malware, patching, access control, authentication, logging, and testing. Version 4.0 shifts the philosophy: fewer prescriptive mandates, more customized controls that you must justify with documented evidence.

Validation depends on transaction volume. Merchants file Self-Assessment Questionnaires; larger merchants and service providers face on-site assessments and quarterly scans by an Approved Scanning Vendor. Fines come from your acquiring bank, and they escalate per month of non-compliance — before regulators and lawsuits even enter the picture.

Shrink The Cardholder Data Environment

The cheapest PCI scope is the one you do not have. Every system, person, and process inside your cardholder data environment (CDE) inherits all 12 requirements. Most organizations we assess are scoping far more than they need — entire networks included because one database holds PANs.

Segmentation is the lever. Isolate the systems that actually touch card data, tokenize or outsource payment flows where possible, and document the segmentation so a QSA or your acquiring bank can verify it. A smaller CDE means a smaller SAQ, fewer controls, and a genuinely lower risk of a card-data breach.

Evidence That Survives The Assessor

The gap we close most often is not technical — it is evidentiary. Firewall rules reviewed "quarterly" with no records. Scan reports filed but never remediated. Password policies written but not enforced in the directory. Assessors sample; gaps in the paper trail become findings even when the control works.

We wire evidence collection into the control itself — scheduled reviews with sign-offs, scan exception tracking, configuration baselines that alert on drift — so the assessment tests a running program instead of an archaeological dig.

How The Engagement Runs

01

Scope & Data Flow

Map how cardholder data enters, moves through, and leaves your environment — then shrink the CDE with segmentation and tokenization.

02

Gap Assessment

Assess all applicable requirements against current state, prioritize by risk and effort, and determine your correct SAQ or assessment level.

03

Remediation

Close the technical and process gaps: access control, encryption, logging, patching, and the custom-control documentation v4.0 demands.

04

Validation & Maintenance

Complete the SAQ or assessment, pass ASV scans, and stand up the quarterly rhythm that keeps you compliant between filings.

Straight Answers

Which SAQ applies to us?+

It depends entirely on how card data flows. SAQ A covers fully outsourced e-commerce; SAQ A-EP covers partially outsourced; SAQ D is the catch-all for merchants that store or process card data themselves. Picking the wrong SAQ is one of the most common — and most penalized — mistakes. Scoping the data flow first answers it definitively.

Do we still need PCI DSS if we use a payment processor?+

Yes, but less of it. Outsourcing the payment page removes systems from your CDE, not your accountability. You still attest compliance, protect whatever card data remains in your environment (refunds, call centers, reports), and manage your processor relationship — their PCI status does not cover your network.

What changed in PCI DSS 4.0?+

Retired v3.2.1 in 2024 and phased in new requirements through 2025. The big shifts: customized control implementations replace some prescriptive mandates, stronger MFA requirements, clearer e-commerce script protection, and stricter password and logging rules. If your program was written against v3.2.1, it needs a refresh.

What are the penalties for non-compliance?+

Your acquiring bank enforces: monthly fines that escalate with duration, higher transaction fees, and in serious cases termination of your ability to process cards. After a breach, card-brand penalties, forensic investigation costs, and reissuance fees typically dwarf the original fine schedule.

How often do we need to validate?+

Annually at minimum — the SAQ or assessment plus an Attestation of Compliance. Quarterly ASV vulnerability scans are required for most merchants, and penetration testing is required annually (and after significant changes) for those in scope for requirement 11.

Ready When You Are

One conversation is usually enough to scope the work, estimate the effort, and tell you honestly whether you need us at all.

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