PCI DSS engineering for payment teams: we build the controls, your assessor validates them
PCI DSS v4.0.1 applies to any entity that stores, processes or transmits cardholder data or sensitive authentication data, or can affect their security. Much of its 12 requirements lands on engineering: scope and segmentation, cryptography, secure software, access and MFA, logging, scans and tests. We build those controls. A Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) or your own self-assessment validates them, and your acquirer and the payment brands decide which. We do not assess or attest.
- Your QSA or acquirer
- Assesses your scope, or receives your attestation
- Your company
- Our engineers build the controls in your environment
- Clouditive
Clouditive does not assess, attest or sign an Attestation of Compliance
The standard
What does PCI DSS v4.0.1 ask of engineering?
PCI DSS v4.0.1 (June 2024) has 12 principal requirements: network security controls, secure configurations, protecting stored account data, cryptography in transmission, protection from malware, secure systems and software, need-to-know access, identification and authentication, physical access, logging and monitoring, regular testing, and organizational policies. Engineering carries most of Requirements 1 to 8, 10 and 11. Whether you must comply or validate, and how, is decided by the payment brands and your acquirer.
Requirements that v4.0 marked as best practice until 31 March 2025 are now required. PCI DSS v4.0 was retired on 31 December 2024, and v4.0.1 added and deleted no requirements. This is the version we read.
Scope
What decides how much of your stack is in scope?
The requirements apply to the cardholder data environment, the systems that store, process or transmit account data, and to systems that can impact its security. Outsourcing payment operations does not remove your responsibility to ensure the account data is protected. Scope must be documented and confirmed at least every 12 months and after significant change (12.5.2), and an accurate data-flow diagram is required (1.2.4).
Engineering is where scope is won or lost: which services see a card number, how networks are segmented, where a token replaces card data. We map the data flows and propose the architecture that keeps card data in the fewest systems. The scoping decision, and whether your segmentation is accepted, belong to you and your assessor.
What we do not claim
What do we not claim?
We hold no PCI DSS Attestation of Compliance. We are not a QSA, an Internal Security Assessor or an Approved Scanning Vendor, and we have no published payments case.
- Our fintech case is investment analytics, not payments. The cases linked below show the same controls in other work, and they are not a PCI DSS implementation.
- We do not complete your Report on Compliance or self-assessment questionnaire, sign an Attestation of Compliance, or run the external vulnerability scans that must come from an Approved Scanning Vendor (11.3.2).
- Policies, the scoping decision, the management of your service providers and the physical security of your sites stay with your company.
- We guarantee no assessment outcome, and we claim no partnership with a payment processor or a compliance-automation (GRC) platform.
The controls
Which requirements does the engineering team build?
Six groups of requirements land on engineering: scope and segmentation, protection of account data, secure software and change, access and MFA, logging, and scans with incident response. For each: what the requirement asks, the engineering work, and where we have done it in a published case.
Scope, segmentation and data flows
What it asks of engineeringWhere does card data go, and what is connected to it?
Requirement 1 covers network security controls, 1.2.4 asks for an accurate data-flow diagram, and 12.5.2 for documented scope confirmed at least every 12 months. The engineering: infrastructure defined as code, so that the network is the diagram; default-deny paths between segments; and a data-flow map kept in the repository next to the code that changes it.
Where we have done it
- The whole Google Cloud platform is OpenTofu, covered by 43 mocked-provider tests that run without touching the cloud account.Read the AI marketing platform case
- The Terraform plan has a brake that stops destructive changes.Read the PropTech housing platform case
- The service sits behind a global HTTPS load balancer with a Cloud Armor WAF.Read the AI marketing platform case
Delivered by
- CI/CD & IaC build or re-architectureUSD 4,000 · 2 weeks
Protecting account data
What it asks of engineeringWhat account data do you keep, in what form, and how does it travel?
3.3.1 asks that sensitive authentication data is not stored after authorization, even if encrypted, and 3.5.1 that the PAN is rendered unreadable wherever it is stored. 4.2.1 asks for strong cryptography and security protocols when the PAN crosses open, public networks. The engineering: store only what you need, tokenize or truncate the rest, managed keys, TLS on every path and private network paths to data stores.
Where we have done it
- Cloud SQL runs on a private IP, with KMS and Workload Identity.Read the AI marketing platform case
- The service sits behind a global HTTPS load balancer with a Cloud Armor WAF.Read the AI marketing platform case
- The Cloudflare edge runs DNSSEC, CAA and MTA-STS.Read the PropTech housing platform case
No fixed package covers cryptography and data protection on their own. We scope them in Discovery or with engineers by the hour.
Secure software and change
What it asks of engineeringHow is custom software developed securely, and how does a change reach production?
6.2.1 and 6.2.4 ask for secure development and for techniques that prevent common software attacks, 6.3.2 for an inventory of custom software and its third-party components, and 6.5.1 for changes made with a reason, a security impact, approval and testing. 6.4.3 asks that every script loaded on a payment page is authorized, integrity-checked and inventoried, and 11.6.1 for change and tamper detection on payment pages. The engineering: a pipeline whose gates can stop a release, dependency and script inventories, and releases that are traceable.
Where we have done it
- Production waits an hour under watch and must pass health and error-rate gates. Rollback by re-promotion was rehearsed in dev: 72 seconds back, 124 seconds forward.Read the fintech release pipeline case
- A release tag builds the images, runs the migrations, deploys by image digest and reads back the digest that is actually live.Read the AI marketing platform case
- Each release is a cosign-signed image, deployed with no traffic, health-checked and then promoted.Read the GovTech coordination portal case
- A push gate checks secrets, types, lint and build before code leaves the engineer's machine.Read the GovTech coordination portal case
Delivered by
- CI/CD & IaC build or re-architectureUSD 4,000 · 2 weeks
- QA Automation FoundationsUSD 5,000 · 2 weeks
Access control and MFA
What it asks of engineeringWho can reach the cardholder data environment, and how do they prove who they are?
Requirement 7 restricts access by business need to know, and Requirement 8 asks for identification and authentication, including 8.4.2, MFA for all non-console access into the cardholder data environment. The engineering: identities on your SSO, MFA, least privilege, secrets in a managed store and workload identity for services. Our own engineers use your accounts, and access is revoked when the engagement ends.
Where we have done it
- Secrets live in a managed secrets store, and the vulnerability gate runs on every merge request.Read the fintech release pipeline case
- Cloud SQL runs on a private IP, with KMS and Workload Identity.Read the AI marketing platform case
- Gmail delivery uses domain-wide delegation, so no mail key is stored.Read the GovTech coordination portal case
- The observability stack is read in Grafana with single sign-on.Read the transportation platform case
No fixed package covers access control on its own. We scope it in Discovery or with engineers by the hour.
Logging and monitoring
What it asks of engineeringAre audit logs on for every component, kept long enough, and watched?
10.2.1 asks that audit logs are enabled and active for all system components and cardholder data, and 10.5.1 that history is kept for at least 12 months with the latest three months immediately available for analysis. The engineering: logs from every component in one place, designed so that card numbers never land in a log line, alerts tested until they fire, and a runbook.
Where we have done it
- From zero production alerts to 275 alerting rules, each tested until it fired.Read the fintech release pipeline case
- OpenTelemetry collectors on every cluster send to central Mimir, Loki, Tempo and Pyroscope. Dashboards went from 18 to 135.Read the transportation platform case
- OpenTelemetry traces go to Google Cloud and 18 alert policies watch the service.Read the AI marketing platform case
Delivered by
- SRE / Observability FoundationsUSD 5,000 · 2 weeks
Scans, tests and incident response
What it asks of engineeringHow often do you scan and test, and what is the plan when something goes wrong?
11.3.1 asks for internal vulnerability scans at least every three months with rescans until high-risk and critical findings are resolved, 11.4.1 for a defined penetration testing methodology, and 12.10.1 for an incident response plan that includes notifying the payment brands and acquirers and covers recovery and data backup. The engineering: scans in the pipeline on every change with suppressions that expire, and a runbook that names who decides and who is told.
Where we have done it
- A SOC 2-oriented vulnerability gate runs on every merge request, with suppressions that expire. It is not a certification.Read the fintech release pipeline case
- Since February 2026 a shared workflow runs dependency, secret, CodeQL and container scans. CI supply-chain hardening is in progress.Read the transportation platform case
- Backups are encrypted and scheduled, and the restore drill brings the data back in 13 seconds.Read the online RPG platform case
Delivered by
- CI/CD & IaC build or re-architectureUSD 4,000 · 2 weeks
Penetration tests and the quarterly external scans come from independent, qualified parties. We build the scans that run in your pipeline.
How we deliver
How do our packages and engineers deliver it?
Start with a fixed-price package, or hire engineers by the hour. The CI/CD & IaC package builds the pipeline and the infrastructure as code. SRE / Observability Foundations wires the monitoring. QA Automation Foundations puts tests in your CI. Discovery turns your scope diagram, your assessor's findings or your self-assessment gaps into a roadmap with a backlog.
Pipeline and infrastructure as code
A 2-week build or re-architecture of your CI/CD pipelines and your infrastructure as code. The gates that go into the pipeline, such as a vulnerability scan, are agreed in the SOW.
Delivered by
- CI/CD & IaC build or re-architectureUSD 4,000 · 2 weeks
Logging and monitoring
Metrics, logs and traces wired, 3 SLOs defined, alerts tested until they fire, and a runbook.
Delivered by
- SRE / Observability FoundationsUSD 5,000 · 2 weeks
Tests on every change
A Playwright suite for your 5 critical flows, running in your CI, with accessibility checks.
Delivered by
- QA Automation FoundationsUSD 5,000 · 2 weeks
From the requirement list to a backlog
Discovery understands your product and its configuration end to end and delivers a roadmap with a backlog, roles, critical changes and needs. Bring your scope diagram, the assessor's findings or the gaps from your self-assessment, and we turn them into engineering work.
Delivered by
- DiscoveryUSD 7,000 · 1–4 weeks
Engineers by the hour
For the work that continues after a package: Senior USD 45–50 an hour, Lead or Architect USD 55–60, with a 6-month minimum, billed per hour worked. You interview the engineer who will do the work.
Sources
Which texts did we read?
Primary texts, read on 2026-10-09.
- Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard: Requirements and Testing Procedures, v4.0.1, June 2024, PCI Security Standards Council. Sections 2 and 11 to 12, Requirements 1 to 12.
- PCI Security Standards Council, "Just Published: PCI DSS v4.0.1", on the retirement of v4.0 and the 31 March 2025 date.
Frequently asked questions
Is Clouditive PCI DSS compliant or certified?
No. We hold no PCI DSS Attestation of Compliance and claim none for any client. The standard asks entities that handle card data to comply, and the payment brands and acquirers decide how compliance is validated.
Can you replace our QSA?
No. A QSA is a company qualified by the PCI Security Standards Council to assess and write the Report on Compliance. We build the engineering controls that assessment tests, and we are not a QSA.
Do you have a payments client?
We have no published payments case. Our fintech case is investment analytics. The cases linked on this page show the same controls in fintech analytics, govtech, proptech, AI and transportation work.
Can you reduce our PCI scope?
We design the architecture so that card data lives in the fewest systems, and we document the data flows. Whether the result is accepted is decided by your assessor. Outsourcing payment operations does not remove your responsibility to ensure the account data is protected.
Which version of PCI DSS do you work to?
Version 4.0.1, published in June 2024. PCI DSS v4.0 was retired on 31 December 2024, and the requirements that were best practice until 31 March 2025 are now required.
How long does it take to get ready?
It depends on your scope and on what you already have, and we give no guarantee about an assessment. A 2-week package builds one area, such as the CI/CD pipeline and infrastructure as code, and Discovery, 1 to 4 weeks, turns the rest into a roadmap.
How does this relate to SOC 2 and the other frameworks?
The engineering overlaps a lot: gated releases, access you can prove, tested alerts and drilled recovery serve several frameworks at once. The compliance engineering page shows which clause of each framework asks for which control.
How do your engineers get access to our systems?
Through your own accounts and identities, with your SSO, your MFA and least-privilege access, revoked when the engagement ends. Every engineer passes a background check before assignment.
Who does the work?
Mat Caniglia leads every project end to end, and the engineers are in LATAM and share your working day. We present candidates within 1 week, and you interview the engineer who will do the work.
Tell us your case.
We reply to every request within 1 business day. We sign an NDA before the call if you ask.