What is PCI DSS 4.0? 

PCI DSS 4.0 is the latest version of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. This standard defines the way consumer information, such as name, address and credit card information, must be transacted and stored securely.

Version 4.0 introduces significant updates to enhance the security of payment card data, adapt to emerging threats and technologies, and facilitate consistent data security practices across organizations worldwide. 

Section 5.4.1 of the PCI-DSS Standards (linked here) covers this in detail.

What is the PCI-DSS DMARC Mandate?

PCI DSS 4.0 guidelines for DMARC are designed around strengthening email security by validating the authenticity of sender domains and protecting against email-based threats. 

The sheer commonality of such impersonation and phishing attacks, combined with the treasure troves of payment card data stored, make attacks on payment processors a rapidly growing and highly lucrative sub-industry within the hacking community.

Requirements for PCI-DSS’s DMARC mandate include: 

• Configuring DMARC, SPF (Sender Policy Framework), and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) records for all domains.

• Implementing email authentication monitoring and reporting mechanisms.

• Moving from a monitoring P=None to P=Reject DMARC enforcement policy.

What do you need to do to become DMARC-compliant for PCI DSS 4.0?

There are quite a few steps involved with reviewing your email flow to become DMARC compliant, but most just take time and are not inherently difficult.

We’ve got a brief checklist on what this entails.

Begin with the DMARC Director Domain Analyzer below by typing in your domain name and clicking Check Now.

While you may think your email security is up to snuff with an email filter, there is a whole other world out there in terms of email authentication and provenance that is often unconsidered. Find out what you may be missing from the Analyzer’s report, then compare it to the next steps in the checklist.

If some of these acronyms seem unfamiliar or the amount of time needed to execute on them may be too long, especially with the imminent March 2025 timeframe needed to meet the PCI DSS 4.0 standard, don’t go it alone: contact Tangent today.

Not only can we take care of all of the complexity and time-heavy lifts involved, we do it at a price ANY organization can afford, both for implementation and for the ongoing monitoring necessary to check that box with the payment networks and your cyberinsurer.

Let us take the load off your shoulders for compliance and get it done right.

Want to kick the wheels on the solution first and see what kinds of threats your domain is facing? Engage in our DMARC Jump Start program for an evaluation of your environment - completely free.

The benefits of a proper DMARC implementation

• Closes Security Gaps: Strengthens protection against phishing and spoofing by ensuring full email authentication from end to end.

• Protects Brand Reputation: Prevents unauthorized domain use, safeguarding trust and credibility with vendors and clients alike.

• Improves Visibility: Provides detailed reports for monitoring and managing email traffic effectively, including seeing who is trying to spoof your organization.

• Enhances Deliverability: Showing up to email servers with a P=Reject DMARC policy indicates an organization that meets the needs for today’s email security flows and receives preferential delivery treatment from recipient mail servers, meaning your messages are far more likely to arrive in inboxes and not junk email folders (or getting bounced outright).

What are the risks of non-compliance?

Non-compliance with the PCI DSS 4.0 standards exposes organizations to serious risks, including but not limited to:

• Financial Penalties: Hefty fines are assessed for non-compliance on a scaling basis, increasing your company’s overhead and eating into the margins, along with the risk of an ejection from payment card networks for extreme cases.

• Operational Threats: Increased vulnerability to email spoofing and phishing attacks, potentially causing irreparable financial damage. 

• Reputational Harm: Loss of client trust and credibility, combined with higher vendor fees for operating a non-compliant processing operation.

• Insurance Challenges: Ineligibility for cyber insurance coverage, and in the event of the “box being checked” for meeting requirements without actually meeting them, expect denial of claims when they are made.

There are substantial monetary costs of falling victim to an email attack.

• Cyber Extortion Costs: Astronomical payments in demand for access to critical data, often upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

• Operational Disruption: Breaches halt daily operations, diverting valuable resources to recover and leaving the business unable to make money to offset these costs.

• Loss of Reputation: Lost trust and costly Public Relations efforts can harm long-term credibility. 

• Legal Fees: Privacy law violations lead to mounting legal expenses, especially once class action lawsuits begin.