How does Implementing Network Segmentation Benefit Businesses?

Businesses today are still struggling to get a grip of their IT environment and secure their systems, networks, and infrastructure against potential threats and vulnerabilities. More so, in the Payment Card Industry where organizations are trying to understand the best practices to protect their system from risk and vulnerabilities.

The PCI Security Standards Council has provided a comprehensive guide for PCI DSS Scoping and Network Segmentation that suggests strategies organizations need to implement to simply prevent hackers from breaching your systems and accessing sensitive and confidential consumer card payment information.

In today’s article, we have explained how Network Segmentation benefits organizations in securing their data and also ease their PCI DSS Compliance process. But, before we get straight into learning the benefits, let us first understand the concept of Network Segmentation and learn for whom is it really beneficial.

Who benefits from Network Segmentation?

For organizations dealing directly or indirectly with card data, be it small, medium, or large scale organizations, Network Segmentation is recommended for all. Given below is a list of entities that may benefit from Network Segmentation-

• Merchants, Service Providers, Card Issuers, and other parties who fall in the scope of PCI DSS Compliance.

• Assessors including the External Quality Assurance Assessors or the Internal Security Assessors.

• Acquirers evaluating Merchants’ or Service Providers’ PCI DSS Reports concerning Compliance and Self-Assessments.

• PCI Forensic Investigators (PFI) performing official investigations.

• Consumers who entrust their data with Merchants and other Service Providers.

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