PCI Watch

Tracking changes across the Payment Card Industry
FAQs » FAQ #1221 » Versions » Diff

FAQ #1221 Diff

Do shared hosting providers need to comply with PCI DSS?

Earlier Version
Later Version
Removed
Added
PCI DSS requirement 2.6 and Appendix A1: "Additional PCI DSS Requirements for Shared Hosting Providers" is applicable to all shared hosting providers whose customers store, process, or transmit cardholder data. A shared hosting provider is one that houses multiple customers on the same server. These requirements for shared hosting providers are not applicable when servers are dedicated to a single customer (but all other applicable PCI DSS requirements do apply).

To determine the applicable PCI DSS requirements for a given shared hosting provider, please contact a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA). The list of QSAs can be found athttps://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/assessors_and_solutions/qualified_security_assessors

Whether a service provider is required to validate PCI DSS compliance is determined by the individual payment brands. Entities should always contact their acquirer or the payment brandsAll service providers are responsible for meeting PCI DSS requirements for their environments as applicable to the services offered to their customers. In addition, PCI DSS Appendix A1: Additional PCI DSS Requirements for Multi-Tenant Service Providers applies to multi-tenant service providers, which is a type of third-party service provider (TPSP) that offers various shared services to merchants and other service providers.

In PCI DSS v4.0, the title of Appendix A1 was updated to “Additional PCI DSS Requirements for Multi-Tenant Hosting Providers” to support the broader range of technologies used to provide shared services. In PCI DSS v3.2.1, Appendix A1 was entitled ‘Additional PCI DSS Requirements for Shared Hosting Providers’.

Service providers that offer only shared data center services (often called co-location or “co-lo” providers), where equipment, space, and bandwidth are available on a rental basis, are not considered service providers for purposes of Appendix A1 in either PCI DSS v3.2.1 or PCI DSS v4.0. In addition, these requirements for multi-tenant service providers are not applicable when servers are dedicated to a single customer (but all other applicable PCI DSS requirements do apply).

For additional information and applicable requirements for these TPSPs, refer to PCI DSS Appendix A1: Additional PCI DSS Requirements for Multi-Tenant Service Providers.

Whether a service provider is required to validate PCI DSS compliance is determined by the organizations that manage compliance programs (for example, an acquirer, payment brand, or other entity). Entities should always contact the entity that manages their compliance program directly to determine their compliance reporting requirements. Contact details for the payment brands can be found in FAQ #1142: How do I contact the payment card brands?

Disclaimer: This FAQ has been processed for display on this website and may contain errors. Please check the original FAQ on the PCI SSC website for the authoritative version.