How Stripe Keeps Your Business Secure

The Importance of Online Security

As businesses transition to the internet, cybersecurity is more relevant than ever. Customers trust your business with their personal information, from their phone number to their credit card details. A cyberattack puts your clients at risk, and damages your business’s reputation. That’s why it’s so important to have procedures in place that prevent a cyberattack from 

The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) aims to develop and drive implementation of security standards to keep online payments secure. The highest certification provided by the SSC is PCI Level 1.

PCI Level 1

All companies that will store card data in their systems, and all companies that act as service providers for other companies, are required to maintain a PCI Level 1 certification. The PCI data security standards are determined by a council of representatives of global card networks. To obtain PCI Level 1 certification, a company must regularly undergo internal and external security screenings by authorized independent audit institutions.

The type of assessment and frequency at which the assessment must be completed varies for different types of businesses, and increases with an increased number of transactions. PCI Level 1 service providers must complete an annual on-site assessment performed by a Qualified Security Assessor, in addition to completing a quarterly Network Vulnerability Scan performed by an Approved Scanning Vendor.

Requirements for PCI compliance:

• Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect Cardholder data
• Encrypt transmission of Cardholder data across open, public networks
• Protect all systems against malware and regularly update antivirus software or programs
• Restrict physical access to Cardholder data
• Track and monitor all access to network resources and Cardholder data
• Regularly test security systems and processes

Stripe Security

PCI compliance is vital to the prevention of cyberattacks. But for many businesses, it’s difficult to invest time and resources into fulfilling all of those requirements. That’s why Stripe handles all PCI compliance for businesses using their products and services. Stripe maintains that the easiest way for your business to remain PCI compliant is to never see or have access to your customer’s card data at all. 

Stripe is a certified PCI Service Provider Level 1. When a customer inputs their card information in Stripe Checkout or Stripe Elements, that data is kept in Stripe’s servers, not your own. The card numbers are encrypted, and all the infrastructure for storing, decrypting and transmitting card numbers runs in a separate hosting environment from Stripe’s primary services.

Stripe also offers a tool called Radar, which detects and blocks fraud using machine learning. Radar’s algorithms adjust to changes in fraud techniques, and adapt to every unique business. Users can even set precise rules to flag, block, or apply 3-D Secure to certain transactions, and sync existing lists of trusted or blocked users.

When you use Stripe for your business, your customers can rest assured that their private information is in safe hands.