Guide To PCI Compliance Testing

As of March 2024, the old version of the payment industry standard has been retired, making way for the new iteration — PCI DSS v4.0. After putting countless hours of effort into achieving compliance with these new standards, it’s time to put your hard work to the test.

New security standards bring a variety of fresh technical requirements. Comprehensive compliance tests evaluate the state of your payment infrastructure and can attest to your compliance readiness. 

Regular compliance testing can often be the key to keeping up with regulatory changes. Completing a timely compliance test in the wake of new regulatory requirements certifies that your business takes the matter of payment security seriously. 

Compliance Testing Basics: The Importance of Securing Your Payments 

PCI compliance tests assess how thoroughly you comply with the official Data Security Standard. 

Passing a compliance test is not always a walk in the park. The complex issue of payment security requires you to have a thorough understanding of any existing vulnerabilities in need of remediation. 

Though not technically mandatory, most of the major card networks expect you to pass regular compliance tests to certify your commitment to payment security.  

Performing a PCI compliance test requires you first to know your merchant level.

PCI officials categorize merchants in four different levels based on their number of annual transactions processed. The merchant level your business belongs to determines the exact compliance requirements you must meet, with the four levels defined as follows:

• Level 1 (over 6 million transactions)
• Level 2 (1 million to 6 million transactions)
• Level 3 (20,000 to 1 million e-commerce transactions)
• Level 4 (less than 20,000 e-commerce transactions)  

Self-assessment questionnaires (SAQs) are used by merchants under Level 1 to validate their compliance, which allows for internal assessment. Meanwhile, Level 1 merchants must complete an external assessment performed by a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA). QSA companies are certified and independent security organizations that officially validate your compliance status. 

While not required for merchants below Level 1, testing your compliance with the help of a QSA company is recommended. 

New Standards, New Test: Re-Testing Your Compliance with PCI DSS 4.0

The official implementation of PCI DSS 4.0 is here.

At this point in the timeline of the new standards, your system should be compliant with v4.0, and your deployment of newly defined best practices should be nearly complete. 

However, if you are not up to speed yet on the latest requirements, you still have until March 2025 to phase in the new requirements currently labeled as “best practices” in the new standard. 

By performing a thorough compliance test ahead of this final 2025 implementation deadline, you can:

• Identify Weaknesses & Inefficiencies: The new standards focus on addressing evolving security threats and expanding cybersecurity requirements. PCI compliance testing can help identify persisting weaknesses or inefficiencies in your payment infrastructure.
• Establish Continuous Cybersecurity: Leveraging automation and having clearly assigned roles are two major facets of v4.0 compliance. Performing regular compliance tests is a crucial component of establishing security as a continuous process. 
• Enable Flexible Security: As technology becomes more powerful and diverse, your approach to security must adapt. The new standards emphasize the need for flexible security methods to help businesses achieve a customized approach, and a thorough compliance test can ensure you have an in-depth understanding of the exact needs of your system. 

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Leveraging Different Types of Compliance Tests to Protect Your Payments

Whether you are completing an official PCI compliance test or simply testing your system independently, knowing what types of tests are available to you is essential.

Three common compliance testing methods include:

• Penetration testing: Penetration testing simulates real-world cyberattacks to identify vulnerabilities in your payment infrastructure, uncovering weaknesses that could be exploited to gain unauthorized access to sensitive payment data.
• Vulnerability scanning: Vulnerability scanning utilizes automated scans to identify known security vulnerabilities, offering proactive protection against the latest cybersecurity threats by allowing you to test potential exploits first. 
• Application security testing: Application security testing assesses the security strength of your software applications, including custom-developed software, to identify significant security flaws that could compromise the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive data.

Penetration testing and vulnerability scanning use predefined sets of controls to identify common security weaknesses. Meanwhile, application security testing makes use of both static and dynamic analyses to examine an application’s source code and environment. 

A well-rounded approach to compliance testing requires regular testing and review. By focusing your efforts on comprehensive testing, you can gain many benefits beyond certifying your compliance with new standards, including: 

• Strengthened cybersecurity defenses
• Improved security posture
• Enhanced remediation efforts
• Improved security patches and updates
• Reduced risk of data breaches and cyberattacks
• Automated risk control management
• Identifying and mitigating vulnerabilities in software applications
• Reducing the risk of data breaches 
• Reducing the risk of financial loss

Reduce Your Compliance Burden with Spreedly’s Open Payment Platform

The complexity of PCI compliance grows alongside your business.

At Spreedly, our open payments platform helps you reduce your compliance burden by providing you with a Level 1 compliant environment. With features like our Advanced Vault and Network Tokens, you can certify your compliance and confidently face evolving cyber threats head-on. 

Contact Spreedly today to gain the advantage of our Level 1 compliant platform.

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