PCI 1:

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Requirement 1: Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect data.

  • Firewalls are computer devices that control computer traffic allowed into a company’s network from outside, as well as traffic into more sensitive areas within a company’s internal network. All systems need to be protected from unauthorized access from the Internet, whether for e-commerce, employees’ Internet-based access via desktop browsers, or employees’ email access. Often, seemingly insignificant paths to and from the Internet can provide unprotected pathways into key systems. Firewalls are a key protection mechanism for any computer network.




PCI-1.1 Establish firewall configuration standards that include:


PCI-1.1.1 A formal process for approving and testing all external network connections and changes to the firewall configuration.


PCI-1.1.2 A current network diagram with all connections to cardholder data, including any wireless networks.


PCI-1.1.3 Requirements for a firewall at each Internet connection and between any demilitarized zone (DMZ) and the internal network zone.


PCI-1.1.4 Description of groups, roles, and responsibilities for logical management of network components.


PCI-1.1.5 Documentation and business justification for use of all services, protocols, and ports allowed, including documentation of security features implemented for those protocols considered to be insecure.


PCI-1.1.6 Requirement to review firewall and router rule sets at least every six months.




PCI-1.2 Build a firewall configuration that restricts connections between untrusted networks and any system components in the cardholder data environment.


PCI-1.2.1 Restrict inbound and outbound traffic to that which is necessary for the cardholder data environment.


PCI-1.2.2 Secure and synchronize router configuration files.


PCI-1.2.3 Install perimeter firewalls between any wireless networks and the cardholder data environment, and configure these firewalls to deny or control (if such traffic is necessary for business purposes) any traffic from the wireless environment into the cardholder data environment.




PCI-1.3 Prohibit direct public access between the Internet and any system component in the cardholder data environment.


PCI-1.3.1 Implement a DMZ to limit inbound and outbound traffic to only protocols that are necessary for the cardholder data environment.


PCI-1.3.2 Limit inbound Internet traffic to IP addresses within the DMZ.


PCI-1.3.3 Do not allow any direct routes inbound or outbound for traffic between the Internet and the cardholder data environment.


PCI-1.3.4 Do not allow internal addresses to pass from the Internet into the DMZ.


PCI-1.3.5 Restrict outbound traffic from the cardholder data environment to the Internet such that outbound traffic can only access IP addresses within the DMZ.


PCI-1.3.6 Implement stateful inspection, also known as dynamic packet filtering. (That is, only ”established” connections are allowed into the network.)


PCI-1.3.7 Place the database in an internal network zone, segregated from the DMZ.


PCI-1.3.8 Implement IP masquerading to prevent internal addresses from being translated and revealed on the Internet, using RFC 1918 address space. Use network address translation (NAT) technologies—for example, port address translation (PAT).




PCI-1.4 Install personal firewall software on any mobile and/or employee-owned computers with direct connectivity to the Internet (for example, laptops used by employees), which are used to access the organization’s network.


PCI-1.4.a Verify that mobile and/or employee-owned computers with direct connectivity to the Internet (for example, laptops used by employees), and which are used to access the organization’s network, have personal firewall software installed and active.


PCI-1.4.b Verify that the personal firewall software is configured by the organization to specific standards and is not alterable by mobile computer users.