PCI Compliance

Master PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliance for secure payment processing and handling of cardholder data.

When to Use This Skill

• Building payment processing systems
• Handling credit card information
• Implementing secure payment flows
• Conducting PCI compliance audits
• Reducing PCI compliance scope
• Implementing tokenization and encryption
• Preparing for PCI DSS assessments

PCI DSS Requirements (12 Core Requirements)

Build and Maintain Secure Network

1. Install and maintain firewall configuration
2. Don't use vendor-supplied defaults for passwords

Protect Cardholder Data

3. Protect stored cardholder data
4. Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across public networks

Maintain Vulnerability Management

5. Protect systems against malware
6. Develop and maintain secure systems and applications

Implement Strong Access Control

7. Restrict access to cardholder data by business need-to-know
8. Identify and authenticate access to system components
9. Restrict physical access to cardholder data

Monitor and Test Networks

10. Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data
11. Regularly test security systems and processes

Maintain Information Security Policy

12. Maintain a policy that addresses information security

Compliance Levels

Level 1: > 6 million transactions/year (annual ROC required) Level 2: 1-6 million transactions/year (annual SAQ) Level 3: 20,000-1 million e-commerce transactions/year Level 4: < 20,000 e-commerce or < 1 million total transactions

Data Minimization (Never Store)

# NEVER STORE THESE
PROHIBITED_DATA = {
    'full_track_data': 'Magnetic stripe data',
    'cvv': 'Card verification code/value',
    'pin': 'PIN or PIN block'
}

# CAN STORE (if encrypted)
ALLOWED_DATA = {
    'pan': 'Primary Account Number (card number)',
    'cardholder_name': 'Name on card',
    'expiration_date': 'Card expiration',
    'service_code': 'Service code'
}

class PaymentData:
    """Safe payment data handling."""

    def __init__(self):
        self.prohibited_fields = ['cvv', 'cvv2', 'cvc', 'pin']

    def sanitize_log(self, data):
        """Remove sensitive data from logs."""
        sanitized = data.copy()

        # Mask PAN
        if 'card_number' in sanitized:
            card = sanitized['card_number']
            sanitized['card_number'] = f"{card[:6]}{'*' * (len(card) - 10)}{card[-4:]}"

        # Remove prohibited data
        for field in self.prohibited_fields:
            sanitized.pop(field, None)

        return sanitized

    def validate_no_prohibited_storage(self, data):
        """Ensure no prohibited data is being stored."""
        for field in self.prohibited_fields:
            if field in data:
                raise SecurityError(f"Attempting to store prohibited field: {field}")

Tokenization

Using Payment Processor Tokens

import stripe

class TokenizedPayment:
    """Handle payments using tokens (no card data on server)."""

    @staticmethod
    def create_payment_method_token(card_details):
        """Create token from card details (client-side only)."""
        # THIS SHOULD ONLY BE DONE CLIENT-SIDE WITH STRIPE.JS
        # NEVER send card details to your server

        """
        // Frontend JavaScript
        const stripe = Stripe('pk_...');

        const {token, error} = await stripe.createToken({
            card: {
                number: '4242424242424242',
                exp_month: 12,
                exp_year: 2024,
                cvc: '123'
            }
        });

        // Send token.id to server (NOT card details)
        """
        pass

    @staticmethod
    def charge_with_token(token_id, amount):
        """Charge using token (server-side)."""
        # Your server only sees the token, never the card number
        stripe.api_key = "sk_..."

        charge = stripe.Charge.create(
            amount=amount,
            currency="usd",
            source=token_id,  # Token instead of card details
            description="Payment"
        )

        return charge

    @staticmethod
    def store_payment_method(customer_id, payment_method_token):
        """Store payment method as token for future use."""
        stripe.Customer.modify(
            customer_id,
            source=payment_method_token
        )

        # Store only customer_id and payment_method_id in your database
        # NEVER store actual card details
        return {
            'customer_id': customer_id,
            'has_payment_method': True
            # DO NOT store: card number, CVV, etc.
        }

Custom Tokenization (Advanced)

import secrets
from cryptography.fernet import Fernet

class TokenVault:
    """Secure token vault for card data (if you must store it)."""

    def __init__(self, encryption_key):
        self.cipher = Fernet(encryption_key)
        self.vault = {}  # In production: use encrypted database

    def tokenize(self, card_data):
        """Convert card data to token."""
        # Generate secure random token
        token = secrets.token_urlsafe(32)

        # Encrypt card data
        encrypted = self.cipher.encrypt(json.dumps(card_data).encode())

        # Store token -> encrypted data mapping
        self.vault[token] = encrypted

        return token

    def detokenize(self, token):
        """Retrieve card data from token."""
        encrypted = self.vault.get(token)
        if not encrypted:
            raise ValueError("Token not found")

        # Decrypt
        decrypted = self.cipher.decrypt(encrypted)
        return json.loads(decrypted.decode())

    def delete_token(self, token):
        """Remove token from vault."""
        self.vault.pop(token, None)

Encryption

Data at Rest

from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.ciphers.aead import AESGCM
import os

class EncryptedStorage:
    """Encrypt data at rest using AES-256-GCM."""

    def __init__(self, encryption_key):
        """Initialize with 256-bit key."""
        self.key = encryption_key  # Must be 32 bytes

    def encrypt(self, plaintext):
        """Encrypt data."""
        # Generate random nonce
        nonce = os.urandom(12)

        # Encrypt
        aesgcm = AESGCM(self.key)
        ciphertext = aesgcm.encrypt(nonce, plaintext.encode(), None)

        # Return nonce + ciphertext
        return nonce + ciphertext

    def decrypt(self, encrypted_data):
        """Decrypt data."""
        # Extract nonce and ciphertext
        nonce = encrypted_data[:12]
        ciphertext = encrypted_data[12:]

        # Decrypt
        aesgcm = AESGCM(self.key)
        plaintext = aesgcm.decrypt(nonce, ciphertext, None)

        return plaintext.decode()

# Usage
storage = EncryptedStorage(os.urandom(32))
encrypted_pan = storage.encrypt("4242424242424242")
# Store encrypted_pan in database

Data in Transit

# Always use TLS 1.2 or higher
# Flask/Django example
app.config['SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE'] = True  # HTTPS only
app.config['SESSION_COOKIE_HTTPONLY'] = True
app.config['SESSION_COOKIE_SAMESITE'] = 'Strict'

# Enforce HTTPS
from flask_talisman import Talisman
Talisman(app, force_https=True)

Access Control

from functools import wraps
from flask import session

def require_pci_access(f):
    """Decorator to restrict access to cardholder data."""
    @wraps(f)
    def decorated_function(*args, **kwargs):
        user = session.get('user')

        # Check if user has PCI access role
        if not user or 'pci_access' not in user.get('roles', []):
            return {'error': 'Unauthorized access to cardholder data'}, 403

        # Log access attempt
        audit_log(
            user=user['id'],
            action='access_cardholder_data',
            resource=f.__name__
        )

        return f(*args, **kwargs)

    return decorated_function

@app.route('/api/payment-methods')
@require_pci_access
def get_payment_methods():
    """Retrieve payment methods (restricted access)."""
    # Only accessible to users with pci_access role
    pass

Audit Logging

import logging
from datetime import datetime

class PCIAuditLogger:
    """PCI-compliant audit logging."""

    def __init__(self):
        self.logger = logging.getLogger('pci_audit')
        # Configure to write to secure, append-only log

    def log_access(self, user_id, resource, action, result):
        """Log access to cardholder data."""
        entry = {
            'timestamp': datetime.utcnow().isoformat(),
            'user_id': user_id,
            'resource': resource,
            'action': action,
            'result': result,
            'ip_address': request.remote_addr
        }

        self.logger.info(json.dumps(entry))

    def log_authentication(self, user_id, success, method):
        """Log authentication attempt."""
        entry = {
            'timestamp': datetime.utcnow().isoformat(),
            'user_id': user_id,
            'event': 'authentication',
            'success': success,
            'method': method,
            'ip_address': request.remote_addr
        }

        self.logger.info(json.dumps(entry))

# Usage
audit = PCIAuditLogger()
audit.log_access(user_id=123, resource='payment_methods', action='read', result='success')

Security Best Practices

Input Validation

import re

def validate_card_number(card_number):
    """Validate card number format (Luhn algorithm)."""
    # Remove spaces and dashes
    card_number = re.sub(r'[\s-]', '', card_number)

    # Check if all digits
    if not card_number.isdigit():
        return False

    # Luhn algorithm
    def luhn_checksum(card_num):
        def digits_of(n):
            return [int(d) for d in str(n)]

        digits = digits_of(card_num)
        odd_digits = digits[-1::-2]
        even_digits = digits[-2::-2]
        checksum = sum(odd_digits)
        for d in even_digits:
            checksum += sum(digits_of(d * 2))
        return checksum % 10

    return luhn_checksum(card_number) == 0

def sanitize_input(user_input):
    """Sanitize user input to prevent injection."""
    # Remove special characters
    # Validate against expected format
    # Escape for database queries
    pass

PCI DSS SAQ (Self-Assessment Questionnaire)

SAQ A (Least Requirements)

• E-commerce using hosted payment page
• No card data on your systems
• ~20 questions

SAQ A-EP

• E-commerce with embedded payment form
• Uses JavaScript to handle card data
• ~180 questions

SAQ D (Most Requirements)

• Store, process, or transmit card data
• Full PCI DSS requirements
• ~300 questions

Compliance Checklist

PCI_COMPLIANCE_CHECKLIST = {
    'network_security': [
        'Firewall configured and maintained',
        'No vendor default passwords',
        'Network segmentation implemented'
    ],
    'data_protection': [
        'No storage of CVV, track data, or PIN',
        'PAN encrypted when stored',
        'PAN masked when displayed',
        'Encryption keys properly managed'
    ],
    'vulnerability_management': [
        'Anti-virus installed and updated',
        'Secure development practices',
        'Regular security patches',
        'Vulnerability scanning performed'
    ],
    'access_control': [
        'Access restricted by role',
        'Unique IDs for all users',
        'Multi-factor authentication',
        'Physical security measures'
    ],
    'monitoring': [
        'Audit logs enabled',
        'Log review process',
        'File integrity monitoring',
        'Regular security testing'
    ],
    'policy': [
        'Security policy documented',
        'Risk assessment performed',
        'Security awareness training',
        'Incident response plan'
    ]
}

Resources

• references/data-minimization.md: Never store prohibited data
• references/tokenization.md: Tokenization strategies
• references/encryption.md: Encryption requirements
• references/access-control.md: Role-based access
• references/audit-logging.md: Comprehensive logging
• assets/pci-compliance-checklist.md: Complete checklist
• assets/encrypted-storage.py: Encryption utilities
• scripts/audit-payment-system.sh: Compliance audit script

Common Violations

1. Storing CVV: Never store card verification codes
2. Unencrypted PAN: Card numbers must be encrypted at rest
3. Weak Encryption: Use AES-256 or equivalent
4. No Access Controls: Restrict who can access cardholder data
5. Missing Audit Logs: Must log all access to payment data
6. Insecure Transmission: Always use TLS 1.2+
7. Default Passwords: Change all default credentials
8. No Security Testing: Regular penetration testing required

Reducing PCI Scope

1. Use Hosted Payments: Stripe Checkout, PayPal, etc.
2. Tokenization: Replace card data with tokens
3. Network Segmentation: Isolate cardholder data environment
4. Outsource: Use PCI-compliant payment processors
5. No Storage: Never store full card details

By minimizing systems that touch card data, you reduce compliance burden significantly.