Which security control meets the needs of a financial institution required to comply with PCI DSS?

Application allowlisting is a security control that is particularly relevant for financial institutions required to comply with PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard). This standard imposes stringent requirements on the handling of cardholder data, and one of its core principles is to ensure that only authorized software can run in an environment that processes such sensitive information.

By implementing application allowlisting, a financial institution can establish a controlled environment where only pre-approved applications are allowed to be executed. This minimizes the risk of malicious software or unauthorized applications running on systems that handle payment information, thus helping to protect against data breaches and potential compromise of payment card data.

The focus on allowing only specific applications contributes to overall system integrity and compliance with regulatory requirements set forth by PCI DSS, which include measures to maintain a secure system and applications. This is essential for safeguarding cardholder data and ensuring that the institution is strategically aligned with industry best practices for information security.

While other options like password policies, firewall configuration, and file integrity monitoring are also important security measures within a broader cybersecurity posture, they do not directly address the specific need to control which software is permitted to operate within a PCI-compliant environment as effectively as application allowlisting does. Therefore, this approach directly supports the regulatory obligations that financial institutions face