ASV Scanning

ASV scanning (Approved Scanning Vendor scanning) is a critical requirement for businesses that handle debit or credit card transactions. The PCI Security Standards Council mandates ASV scanning to identify external vulnerabilities and protect payment systems from cyber threats.

This requirement goes beyond just merchants. Acquirers (banks), issuers, processors, and service providers must also undergo ASV scanning to ensure they remain PCI DSS compliant. In short, if your business touches payment card data in any way, ASV scans are essential for safeguarding both compliance and security.

An external vulnerability scan is one of the most important steps your organization can take to secure its network perimeter. These scans identify weaknesses before hackers can exploit them, reducing the risk of costly attacks. To put this in perspective, ransomware damage costs exceeded $5 billion last year, a staggering 15-fold increase compared to 2015.

Under the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), merchants that process, store, or transmit cardholder data are required to conduct external vulnerability scans regularly. Yet many organizations remain unsure about how these scans work, when to run them, and how they fit into PCI DSS compliance. This blog will break down what to expect so you can prepare with confidence.

Making the choice for an approved scanning vendor (ASV) is an important consideration for organizations looking to achieve or maintain compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) requirements. The requirements set forth in the PCI Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) are intended to provide end-to-end security for cardholder data. A central component of the PCI DSS is the requirement for entities covered by the PCI DSS to have regular external scans of their networks and systems. As such, PCI approved scanning vendors occupy a central role in ensuring that organizations covered by PCI DSS achieve and maintain compliance advisory services with these requirements over time.

The process of understanding the entirety of what Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) covers is an extremely daunting task for business decision makers.  An increasingly important aspect of Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance has become maintaining compliance with the Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV) requirements notated within PCI DSS.  One of the notable requirements that entities must adhere to are those that cover ASV Scans. These vulnerability scans are quite complex in nature and require many man hours of preparation on the vendor and company side to ensure proper consumer payment card protection in the organization’s cardholder environment.

You have determined that you need vulnerability scanning from an approved scanning vendor (ASV), probably because you need to maintain or establish PCI compliance. Most businesses require at least quarterly scanning. You have done your research and selected a vendor, verified they are approved on the PCI website and are ready to get started. There are several parties involved in this process from the Card Brands to the merchant and the ASV. We will discuss the responsibilities of each.