Gap analysis against Trust Services Criteria before your auditor finds the gaps. Audit-ready evidence packages delivered fast, priced for real budgets.
Our assessors hold the certifications your auditors and assessors recognize — OSCP, CEH, and CREST. No junior analysts running checklists.
You get a fixed price before we start. No hourly billing, no scope creep surprises, no invoice that looks nothing like the quote.
Most assessments are delivered in five to ten business days from kickoff. Built for real audit deadlines, not enterprise consulting timelines.
Reports are structured so your auditor, QSA, C3PAO, or certification body can evaluate evidence directly. No translation layer required.
PCI DSS v4.0 validation is a systematic review of your cardholder data environment against the current version of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. The goal is to find what is missing before your QSA or acquiring bank does — whether you are preparing for an SAQ, a Report on Compliance, or a reassessment triggered by a significant system change.
v4.0 tightened requirements that v3.2.1 left loose. Customized implementation paths, expanded MFA requirements, and targeted risk analyses for every control with a defined frequency. If you have not revisited your compliance posture since the transition, there are almost certainly gaps you do not know about yet.
Your validation path depends on transaction volume and the card brands you work with. Level 1 merchants generally require a Report on Compliance produced by a QSA. Levels 2 through 4 typically validate through a Self-Assessment Questionnaire, and which SAQ type applies depends on how you accept payments — fully outsourced e-commerce, integrated checkout, card-present terminals, and hybrid setups all land on different forms.
Picking the wrong SAQ is one of the most common and most expensive mistakes in PCI compliance, because it is usually discovered after the work is done. Our PCI DSS compliance checklist walks through each merchant level and the validation path attached to it.
Requirement 11.4 is one of the most common PCI audit sticking points. PCI DSS v4.0 is explicit: you need manual penetration testing of your cardholder data environment, internal and external, at least annually and after any significant change. An ASV scan does not satisfy this. A vulnerability assessment does not either.
Segmentation testing sits under 11.4 as well. If you rely on segmentation to reduce scope, you have to prove that segmentation actually holds — at least every six months for service providers. Our validation tells you exactly where your 11.4 evidence stands before your QSA asks.
For a merchant validating through an SAQ with a reasonably contained environment, the realistic path from gap assessment to submitted questionnaire is six to twelve weeks. A Level 1 ROC engagement runs considerably longer, and the QSA fieldwork itself is only the last stretch of it.
The variable that moves the timeline most is scope. Every system that stores, processes, or transmits cardholder data — plus everything connected to it — is in scope until you prove otherwise. Our PCI DSS compliance timeline guide breaks down each phase and where teams typically lose weeks.
Costs vary widely by merchant level. An SAQ-path merchant may spend a few thousand dollars on scanning, testing, and remediation. A Level 1 ROC engagement with QSA fees, penetration testing, ASV scanning, and remediation commonly runs into five or six figures.
The line item most teams underestimate is remediation, not assessment. Our PCI DSS cost guide breaks down QSA fees, ASV scanning, pentesting, and the internal time nobody budgets for.
Do not wait for your QSA to find the gaps. Get your PCI DSS v4.0 validation quote and walk into your assessment prepared.
Tell us your framework, environment size, and audit deadline. Takes two minutes. No account required, no sales call triggered.
We review your submission and send a fixed-price quote with scope, timeline, and what you’ll receive — usually within one business day.
Once you approve, we kick off immediately. Gap report, remediation roadmap, and evidence package delivered in 5 to 10 business days.
No sales calls. Same-day response.
An SAQ is a self-assessment questionnaire used by most merchants. A ROC is produced by a Qualified Security Assessor and is generally required for Level 1 merchants. Our assessment prepares you for both and is structured to support whichever path applies to your merchant level.
Outsourcing payment processing reduces scope but does not eliminate your obligations. The systems that connect to your payment processor and the pages that host your checkout flow still need to meet applicable PCI requirements. Our assessment scopes exactly what applies to your environment.
Yes. Requirement 11.4 calls for internal and external penetration testing at least annually and after any significant change to the environment. Automated scanning does not satisfy it. If you use segmentation to reduce scope, segmentation testing is required on top of that.
Validation is annual. Some requirements run on shorter cycles — ASV scans quarterly, and segmentation testing every six months for service providers — so compliance is a continuous program rather than a once-a-year event.
Non-compliance is enforced by your acquiring bank and the card brands rather than by a government regulator. Consequences typically include monthly fines passed through your acquirer, higher transaction fees, and in a breach scenario, liability for forensic investigation and card reissuance costs.
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