Special Interest Groups

Special Interest Groups

2021 SIG: Best Practices for Container Orchestration

Containerization is an increasingly popular operating system virtualization methodology that allows for the creation of what are known as “containers”. Containers can be used for various needs, such as microservices, batch processing, application portability, platform as a service (PaaS), and many others. Container orchestration tools provide a means of automating the provisioning, deployment, management, scaling and security of containers throughout their lifecycle. The goal of the SIG is to provide guidance for companies on how to enhance security when using container orchestration tools in their virtual or cloud infrastructure. This guidance will include an overview of container orchestration tools as well as a breakdown of payment industry considerations for critical components of typical system implementations.

SIGs are community-driven initiatives that play a key role in the development of resources for the payment card industry. Involvement in a SIG is a great way to provide your expertise to the PCI Council and help develop practical payment security resources for the industry.

To be successful, SIGs require active participation and contributions from its stakeholders. SIG participants are expected to be actively involved and contribute during scheduled calls, sharing their expertise and experience in container platforms and technologies, container lifecycle management, virtualization management, cloud architecture and management, security considerations for container deployments, and related fields.

Special Interest Group (SIG) Proposals FAQ

Participating Organizations (PO), Qualified Security Assessors (QSA), Approved Scanning Vendors (ASV), Qualified PIN Assessors (QPA), Card Production Security Assessors (CPSA), Software Security Framework (SSF) Assessors, Founding Members, Strategic Members, and Affiliate Members may propose a Special Interest Group during the proposal period.

Special Interest Group (SIG) initiatives focus on specific payment security challenges that the PCI community wants guidance on addressing. Recent SIG topics include: Cloud Computing, Best Practices for Securing E-Commerce, Third-Party Security Assurance, Best Practices for Maintaining PCI DSS Compliance, Protecting Telephone-based Payment Card Data, and PCI DSS for Large Organizations. SIG work may provide clarification on specific requirements within a PCI Security Standard, examine how PCI Security Standards work within a given industry or environment, or cover any other area that supports PCI SSC’s mission of raising awareness and increasing adoption of PCI Security Standards. Since the PCI SSC is focused on providing tools and resources to secure payment card data within the current payment system, and must also operate within a strict anti-trust framework, a focus outside of the current payment system is beyond our scope and would not be an appropriate topic for a PCI SSC SIG project.

A PCI SSC representative chairs, leads and project manages SIG work. This collaboration allows SIG volunteers to focus on contributing subject matter expertise and developing content, without responsibility for logistical matters. This structure also ensures continued alignment between SIG contributions and PCI SSC direction.

While PCI SSC provides support and facilitates the SIG process, it is the active participation and contributions by stakeholders that make a SIG successful. Participating in the SIG process, whether submitting a proposal, voting for a proposal, or serving as a lead contributor to a SIG deliverable, is one of the best ways PCI stakeholders can take part in our mission to increase payment data security globally.

SIG topics are proposed and chosen by the Participating Organization membership, which represents merchants, financial institutions, vendors, associations, and payment processors. This ensures that the stakeholders involved in implementing and supporting the PCI Security Standards can select which SIG projects would be most beneficial to their needs.

SIG topics may be proposed during a defined submission period. At the close of the submission period, SIG proposals are consolidated and presentations are prepared for Participating Organizations to review via the PCI portal. An election period is then initiated for Participating Organizations to vote on their preferred SIG topics. After voting is concluded, the PCI SSC shares the results and works with the selected group to create a charter for the new SIG.