Definition
PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is a set of security standards developed by the PCI SSC (Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council), aimed at protecting cardholder data and reducing the risk of payment fraud. Any organization that stores, processes, or transmits card data must comply with PCI DSS requirements. In the International IoT Cloud Platform (ICMP), Payment Gateway acts as a payment processing hub and must comply with PCI DSS to ensure payment security in scenarios such as cross-border SIM orders and data package purchases.
Core Requirements and Levels
PCI DSS includes 12 core requirements, covering: building and maintaining a secure network, protecting cardholder data, implementing vulnerability management, enforcing strong access control, regularly monitoring and testing, and maintaining an information security policy. Based on annual transaction volume, merchants are classified into four levels (Level 1–4), with Level 1 requiring an annual QSA audit, and Levels 2–4 eligible for self-assessment. If the ICMP platform directly handles card data, it usually needs to achieve Level 1 or Level 2 compliance; if it uses Payment Gateway for tokenization or redirection, the compliance scope can be significantly reduced (SAQ A), leaving card data processing to an already compliant payment service provider.
Application in ICMP
SimtoLink ICMP's payment process adopts a 'no-landing' strategy: when customers enter card information on the payment page, the data is submitted directly to a PCI DSS-certified payment gateway, and the platform does not store sensitive data such as the full card number or CVV. After the gateway returns a Token, the platform only keeps the Token for subsequent charges, meeting the SAQ A simplified compliance requirements. Combined with 3D Secure verification, it can further reduce fraud and chargeback risks. In cross-border scenarios, the platform must ensure that payment interfaces in each region comply with local regulatory requirements and coordinate with policies such as Data Residency and GDPR.
Compliance Practice Recommendations
When integrating payment capabilities, the ICMP platform should prioritize using PCI DSS-certified payment gateways to avoid the high compliance costs of building its own card processing system. Regular security scans of payment-related interfaces should be conducted to ensure no vulnerabilities are exposed. Operations involving payments should be recorded in the Audit Trail to support post-event audits and dispute investigations. Combined with 2FA and IAM access control, access to sensitive operations such as payment configuration and refunds should be restricted, forming a complete security loop.