Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS, PCI)

The comprehensive set of requirements designed to ensure that any company that processes, stores, or transmits credit card information does so by maintaining a secure environment. The requirements were established to help prevent payment data breaches and payment card fraud.

PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC)

PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), made up of major payment companies, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and JCB, administers and manages the PCI DSS standard. However, enforcing the compliance of PCI DSS is the responsibility of the individual payment brands.

penetration testing

Also called pen testing. An attempt to evaluate the security of an IT infrastructure by safely trying to exploit vulnerabilities. Fortra’s Core Security Core Impact, Cobalt Strike, and IBM i product lines deliver pen testing solutions.    

personally identifiable information (PII)

Data that directly or indirectly identifies a specific individual, such as names, addresses, biometrics, and alphanumeric account numbers.

platform as a service (PaaS)

A form of cloud computing in which a provider delivers hardware and software tools on its own infrastructure to users over the internet.

portable document format (PDF)

A file format that provides an electronic image of text or text and graphics that looks like a printed document and can be viewed, printed, and electronically transmitted.

Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)

An encryption program that provides cryptographic privacy and authentication for data communication. See also Open PGP.

privileged access management (PAM)

Giving users only the access they need and ensuring that least privileged access is enforced. Fortra’s Core Privileged Access Manager (BoKS) product delivers privileged access management solutions.    

protected health information (PHI)

Any information in a medical record that can be used to identify an individual and that was created, used, or disclosed while providing a healthcare service such as diagnosis or treatment.

provisioning (PROV)

Provisioning is the process of setting up IT infrastructure. It can also refer to the steps required to manage access to data and resources and make them available to users and systems.