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PCI Council Publishes Revision to PCI Data Security StandardToday, the PCI (News - Alert) Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) published PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) Version 3.1 and supporting guidance. The revision includes minor updates and clarifications, and addresses vulnerabilities within the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption protocol that can put payment data at risk. Available now on the PCI SSC website, version 3.1 is effective immediately. PCI DSS Version 3.0 will be retired on 30 June 2015. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) identified SSL (a cryptographic protocol designed to provide secure communications over a computer network) as not being acceptable for the protection of data due to inherent weaknesses within the protocol. Upgrading to a current, secure version of Transport Layer Security (TLS), the successor protocol to SSL, is the only known way to remediate these vulnerabilities, which have been exploited by browser attacks such as POODLE and BEAST. To address this risk, PCI DSS 3.1 updates requirements 2.2.3, 2.3 and 4.1 to remove SSL and early1 TLS as examples of strong cryptography. The revisions are effective immediately, but impacted requirements have a sunset date to allow for organizations with affected systems to implement the changes:
"We are fcused on providing the strongest standards and resources to help merchants and their business partners protect against the latest threats to payment data. The PCI Standards development process allows us to do this based on industry and market input," said PCI SSC General Manager Stephen W. Orfei. "With PCI DSS 3.1 and supporting guidance we are arming organizations with a pragmatic, risk-based approach to addressing the vulnerabilities within the SSL protocol that can put payment data at risk." Additional changes to improve understanding and consistency in the standard include: clarification of language, general formatting and typographical corrections; additional guidance in introductory sections and guidance column; and updates to specific testing procedures to align testing objectives with requirements. The Council encourages organizations to use the following supporting resources in understanding PCI DSS 3.1 and its impact to security programs:
PCI DSS 3.1 and supporting resources are available on the PCI SSC website at: https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/security_standards/documents.php Supporting this revision, Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS) Version 3.1 will also be published shortly.
About the PCI Security Standards Council Connect with the PCI Council on LinkedIn. Join the conversation on Twitter (News - Alert) @PCISSC. 1 TLS version 1.0 and in some cases 1.1 - see PCI SSC Information Supplement: Migrating from SSL and Early TLS. 2 Existing implementations are those where there is a pre-existing reliance or use of a vulnerable protocol(s) - see PCI SSC Information Supplement: Migrating from SSL and Early TLS. 3 New implementations are when there is no existing dependency on the use of the vulnerable protocols - see PCI SSC Information Supplement: Migrating from SSL and Early TLS.
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