How a Retail Leader Turned PCI DSS Compliance into a Cybersecurity Strategy
- Stefan Timotijevic
- Jun 4
- 2 min read
For years, they did what everyone else did.
Un formulaire SAQ rempli une fois l’an. Une checklist copiée, signée, classée. And, honestly? It wasn't really a topic.
Until one day everything changed. A simple audit. And a brutal realization.
The context: a big name in retail
The company we are talking about here is a major player in retail , with more than 80 branches, a growing e-commerce business, and a card payment volume that exceeds 150 million per year.
Each store had its own terminal. Each terminal was connected to the internal network. And like many others, they thought their environment was “sufficiently secure.”
It was only when preparing for PCI DSS certification that they realized how exposed their infrastructure was .
What the audit revealed
Three critical points immediately emerged:
POS terminals were not segmented from the rest of the network.
In short, if malware infected a computer at the counter, it could theoretically reach payment flows.
Shared access was used by store teams.
No clear traceability. Impossible to know who did what.
No monitoring of client-side scripts on their transactional site.
A marketing plugin was injecting scripts into the checkout page… without anyone noticing.
None of this had caused a breach. But the auditors were clear: compliance was compromised .
What they decided to do
Rather than simply correcting the blocking elements to “pass the audit”, the company made a strategic decision:
“We will use PCI as leverage to build our cybersecurity program.”
And it wasn't just a slogan. They appointed a dedicated vCISO, redesigned their network architecture, trained their teams...and deployed PCI360 as their management platform.
The transformation (seen from the inside)
Here's what they put in place, in less than 6 months:
🔐 Active network segmentations , with regular automated testing
👥 Centralized identity management (SSO/MFA) for all PCI access
🧪 Recurring vulnerability tests and ASV scans, triggered from PCI360
📜 Contextualized policies , disseminated to all affected employees
🧭 Dynamic mapping of their PCI perimeter, continuously updated
🕵️♀️ Client-side monitoring to detect malicious script injections
📈 Maturity dashboards for the executive committee
What PCI DSS has enabled…beyond compliance
The most surprising thing, according to their CIO, wasn't what they had to do. It was what they discovered through the PCI exercise:
Suppliers who had access to systems without justification
Third-party scripts forgotten for years
Default configurations never updated
Redundancies between unmaintained security tools
By treating the PCI standard as an operational hygiene framework , they have successfully built a cybersecurity culture
In an organization where, until then, it was seen as a “technical thing”.
And today?
3 years later, this company:
Pass your PCI audits without stress
Anticipates v4.1 requirements with PCI360 modules
And above all, use the platform to manage its overall cybersecurity plan
PCI DSS is no longer a requirement. It has become a backbone .
What to remember
✔️ PCI DSS compliance can be a real strategic accelerator
⚠️ But it should not be treated as an annual paperwork exercise
🚀 With a structured approach, you can turn a requirement into a competitive advantage
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