The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard requires penetration testing for any organization that stores, processes, or transmits cardholder data. Our OSCP-certified testers deliver QSA-ready reports covering internal, external, and segmentation testing per Requirement 11.4.
PCI DSS 4.0 compliant methodology
Internal + external + segmentation
QSA-ready reports in 2 weeks
Free retest included
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PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is a set of security requirements designed to protect cardholder data wherever it is stored, processed, or transmitted. Any organization that handles payment card data must comply with PCI DSS, which is maintained by the PCI Security Standards Council.
PCI DSS 4.0 requires penetration testing under Requirement 11.4 to validate that security controls protecting the cardholder data environment are operating effectively. Our pentest methodology covers internal, external, and segmentation testing as required by the standard.
At Affordable Pentesting, our certified testers map every finding to specific PCI DSS 4.0 requirements. Your QSA gets the evidence they need — no translation required. Here are the key testing areas we cover:
Network and app-layer testing from inside the CDE. Lateral movement paths and privilege escalation identified.
Internet-facing systems tested from an external attacker perspective. Web apps, APIs, network services, and cloud infra.
Validates segmentation controls isolate the CDE from out-of-scope systems and networks.
Multi-tenant isolation and shared infrastructure security validation for service providers.
PCI DSS 4.0 Requirement 11.4 requires penetration testing at least annually and after any significant change to the cardholder data environment. Service providers must test every six months.
Vulnerability scans (Req 11.3) are automated tool-based scans. Pentests (Req 11.4) use manual exploitation by skilled testers to validate whether vulnerabilities are actually exploitable. PCI DSS requires both.
Yes. Requirement 11.4.5 requires segmentation testing to verify that controls isolating the CDE from out-of-scope networks are effective. We validate segmentation from both sides of the boundary.
Yes. Our reports map each finding to the specific PCI DSS requirement it validates. We've delivered reports accepted by QSAs at major assessor firms for both SAQ and ROC submissions.