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Once considered vaguely important, PCI compliance has moved to the forefront of organizations worldwide. It has become a requirement for any organization that processes or stores cardholder data. With the growing complexity of digital environments and the constant threat of cyberattacks, compliance has become increasingly complicated. The shift to PCI DSSv4.0 has further muddied the waters.
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) contains over 180 individual requirements. These include everything from encryption levels to network segmentation. Every aspect is held to both technical and procedural standards. Many organizations face various challenges, some technical, some operational, to remain compliant. This can leave them exposed to security breaches.
This blog explores the top PCI compliance challenges and looks at potential solutions for organizations. These are provided through technology and expert insight. OTAVA is a leading provider of compliant cloud solutions.
Many organizations shift their attention to other concerns once they have earned their PCI certification. This can be a costly oversight. It is one of the most common pitfalls. PCI certification is not a one-time event. If it is treated without due consideration, it can lead organizations to have expired controls, outdated configurations, and a lax attitude toward system security.
According to the Flashpoint GTII 2025 Midyear report, data breaches surged by 235% in the first half of 2025. This should serve as a stark reminder that cyber threats continue to grow and seek out any vulnerability they can exploit. As they change tactics, so must every organization and its compliance efforts.
PCI compliance demands continuous monitoring, which includes quarterly vulnerability scans, annual audits, log reviews, and real-time monitoring.
OTAVA offers industry-leading solutions with continuous compliance for its cloud and security services. With proactive oversight, organizations can rest assured they are audit-ready throughout the year, not just at certification time.
The requirements for PCI DSS have become increasingly complex. This is particularly true of version 4.0. This version introduced flexible control but with added layers of complexity. This can be quite a task for smaller, less skilled IT professionals. The 12 requirement categories alone can be intimidating. Each one has various technical nuances and can be quite overwhelming.
In some situations, IT teams can lack the necessary visibility to accurately define the Cardholder Data Environment (CDE). If this isn’t properly defined, it can leave key systems out of the scope or allow too many in. Either one increases the compliance burden for the IT team moving forward.
Several solutions exist to alleviate this burden. One way is to break PCI DSS into smaller management phases. Another way is to map out the owners of each requirement category so it doesn’t all fall on the shoulders of the IT team. It is important to work with certified compliance experts to ensure the CDE is properly defined.
OTAVA offers multi-cloud solutions with native PCI DSS controls. We work directly with organizations to ensure their compliance is a step-by-step process, as it is important that the scope is properly defined.
A common compliance and security failure many organizations commit is storing cardholder data in plain text form. Some may continue to rely on weak encryption procedures.
This is even more critical considering that 35% of new vulnerabilities in 2025 included publicly available exploit code, according to Flashpoint GTII 2025 Midyear. Attackers don’t need to work hard when sensitive data is unprotected.
Solution:
OTAVA provides built-in encryption with secure, compliant cloud storage offerings.
Some organizations utilizing flat architectures can increase the complexity of their audits. There are several concepts that address this issue:
OTAVA provides managed firewall services to ensure custom network segmentation. This shrinks PCI scope for organizations and reduces compliance overhead.
The biggest misunderstanding in PCI compliance comes when organizations outsource portions of their architecture. The assumption is that by outsourcing those components, the vendor assumes the compliance responsibility. That’s not true. Ultimately, the organization is responsible for all third-party systems that process, store, or transmit cardholder data.
It is important for organizations to be fully aware of the Attestations of Compliance (AOCs), too. Some only cover specific portions of your environment, leaving the organization exposed.
There are several ways to ensure this doesn’t happen:
OTAVA offers guided compliance management to help organizations manage their vendors and ensure compliance.
Due to the shifting demands of the digital landscape, many organizations define firewall rules but fail to revisit them. Over time, these rules accumulate and documentation becomes outdated. This not only complicates audits but also creates vulnerabilities.
There are several important ways to minimize this:
OTAVA provides managed firewall configurations with audit-ready documentation. This allows organizations to show compliance with PCI DSS requirement 1.2.7 and associated controls.
A cornerstone of PCI DSS requirements is vulnerability scans and threat assessments. While this is a requirement, many organizations fail to run quarterly ASV scans. Worse still, some organizations entirely skip the annual internal and external penetration tests. Some cite budgetary constraints or simple oversight.
Ways to ensure compliance testing is performed:
Many vendors have caught on to the trend and advertise that they are PCI compliant when in fact they aren’t. This compliance is device- and environment-dependent. What might be compliant for one organization is not for another. Relying on generic compliance claims can expose your business to compliance gaps.
Three ways to battle this:
OTAVA delivers compliance validation support, giving clients the assurance and documentation they need to pass audits with confidence.
Certainly, PCI compliance is a challenging but necessary component of today’s digital environment. The right blend of expertise, technology, and governance can transform compliance from a burden into a built-in feature of your IT strategy.
OTAVA embeds PCI DSS controls into our compliant-by-design infrastructure. We do this for hybrid cloud, private cloud, and managed public cloud platforms. From data encryption to network segmentation to audit-ready reporting, OTAVA delivers ensuring, compliant, and resilient solutions.
Reach out to OTAVA today to find out how PCI-ready infrastructure packaged with managed services can simplify your organizational compliance.
