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.

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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.

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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.

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