💳PCI DSS 4.1high

Use strong cryptography to protect data in transit

Description

Strong cryptography must be used whenever cardholder data is transmitted over open networks.

⚠️ Risk Impact

Unencrypted cardholder data in transit can be captured via network sniffing.

🔧 Remediation

Enforce TLS 1.2+ with strong cipher suites.

💀 Real-World Attack Scenario

A payment gateway transmitted cardholder data over TLS 1.0 with weak cipher suites. An attacker performed a POODLE downgrade attack to intercept encrypted card data, successfully decrypting 45,000 card transactions over a 2-week period before the weak cipher was detected.

💰 Cost of Non-Compliance

PCI DSS 4.0 mandates TLS 1.2+ (TLS 1.0/1.1 explicitly prohibited). Non-compliance: $5K-$100K/month in fines. Weak cryptography breaches carry full fraud liability for the merchant.

📋 Audit Questions

  • 1.What TLS versions are supported on payment endpoints?
  • 2.Which cipher suites are accepted?
  • 3.Are TLS 1.0 and 1.1 explicitly disabled?
  • 4.Do you perform regular TLS configuration testing?

🎯 MITRE ATT&CK Mapping

T1040 — Network SniffingT1557 — Adversary-in-the-Middle

⚡ Common Pitfalls

  • ⛔Supporting TLS 1.0/1.1 for backward compatibility with old clients
  • ⛔Using weak cipher suites (RC4, DES, 3DES)
  • ⛔Not testing for SSL/TLS vulnerabilities regularly (POODLE, BEAST, etc.)

📈 Business Value

Strong TLS enforcement protects cardholder data in transit and eliminates downgrade attacks. It's a zero-cost control that prevents entire classes of cryptographic attacks.

⏱️ Effort Estimate

Manual

2-4 hours to audit and update TLS configurations

With EchelonGraph

EchelonGraph monitors TLS configurations across all endpoints

🔗 Cross-Framework References

SOC2-CC6.7ISO27001-A.10.1.1

Automate PCI DSS 4.1 compliance

EchelonGraph continuously monitors this control across all your cloud accounts.

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