Today, all service providers and retailers that process, store or transmit cardholder data have a fiduciary responsibility to protect that data. As such, they must comply with a diverse range of regulations and industry mandates. One of the most important for the service provider and retailer is the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), which sets forth 12 requirements for IT controls to ensure data security and protection. However, retailers both large and small face tremendous challenges in implementing policies and controls that enable PCI compliance, and the task of implementing best practices can be overwhelming.

Fortunately, log management and intelligence (LMI) is simplifying and accelerating the process of PCI compliance by enabling retailers and service providers to use log data generated from servers, network devices, appliances and applications to monitor, enforce and report on security policies. Managed well, log data offers a wealth of insightful information for improving processes across the enterprise, helping to mitigate security and performance risks and remediate incidents quickly should they occur. In fact, LMI is often singled out by standards like PCI as a best practice and compliance enabler. For instance, requirement 10 and others of the PCI standard specifically mandate the use of logs for achieving compliance.

This white paper discusses the challenges organizations face in complying with PCI, and how effective LMI can simplify the compliance process while helping to improve enterprise security. It also provides suggestions for how to best prepare for a PCI audit and improve your chances of achieving on-going compliance.