Information Security Q&A: July 2011

You know the story; if your systems/applications store transmit or process credit card data, you must meet PCI data security standards.

Since Q4 2010 all PCI shops are aware that their Cardholder Data Environments need a risk ranking procedure.

But, What is it and how does it change current practices?

PCI DSS Requirement 6.2 says "Establish a process to identify and assign a risk ranking to newly discovered security vulnerabilities"

And a new recommendation may certainly effect how you manage risk…

This recommendation (which will be a requirement by June 30, 2012) can be classified as Risk Management 101, and yet it may change several cornerstones of your processes.

Here is what 6.2.a is asking for:

1- Check your processes for identifying new security vulnerabilities (make sure you have one)

2- Assign risk ranking to identified vulnerabilities

6.2.b Continues with the recommendation that you use and outside source for this risk ranking process.

This translates into a solid scoring system for risk. Enterprise options to collect data for a scoring system are:

1- Vendor Security Alerts

2- Vulnerability Management Advisories (Usually security scanner, and IDS/IPS shops)

3- Vulnerability Intelligence Advisories (e.g. Secunia, iDefense, Deepsight)

4- Internal risk scoring systems (yes we all love academic endeavors - that is why PCI SSC asks for "outside" source : )

Either way (using one of the options, using some/all of them) PCI recommendation 6.2 will push risk management practices in the right direction and make risk prioritization a priority...Eventually PCI shops will (6/30/2012) integrate risk management with vulnerability scanning devices, security alerts, advisories and patch management solutions to audit and validate PCI 6.2 with risk rankings.