Beyond the POS: How Retailers Expand Compliance in the Era of PCI DSS 4.0

By: Todd Vojta, Vice President of Sales at Mako Networks

The retail industry is under constant pressure to modernize while maintaining strict compliance with evolving security standards. Multi-location retailers ensuring consistent PCI DSS 4.0 compliance across every store, kiosk, and remote checkout point is not just daunting—it’s resource-intensive, time-consuming, and prone to human error. With hundreds or even thousands of locations, retailers must secure every transaction while managing complex network infrastructures, legacy systems, and increasing cyber threats. Payment security is no longer confined to the POS; compliance now extends to cloud-based operations, third-party integrations, and mobile payments. Without a unified, scalable approach to security, retailers risk data breaches, reputational damage, and costly non-compliance penalties.

The newest version of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, PCI DSS 4.0, brings significant updates that require retailers to rethink how they secure transactions, protect customer data, and maintain a compliant network infrastructure. PCI DSS 4.0 introduces more flexible and dynamic security measures tailored to modern retail environments. Among the key updates, the standard emphasizes:

  • Customized Approach: Businesses can now use alternative security controls, provided they meet the same security objectives.
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Expansion: MFA is required for all accounts with access to cardholder data, extending beyond administrative roles.
  • Increased Encryption Standards: Stronger encryption for stored and transmitted payment data is now mandated.
  • Enhanced Monitoring and Testing Requirements: More frequent vulnerability scans and risk assessments are required to maintain compliance.
  • Stronger Role-Based Access Controls: Retailers must ensure that access to sensitive data is restricted based on job function.

Retailers need to adopt a proactive approach to securing their entire IT infrastructure, from the POS to cloud-based applications and remote locations.

Securing the Entire Retail Environment
Achieving and maintaining PCI DSS 4.0 compliance requires more than just securing transactions at the point of sale. A robust and secure SD-WAN architecture ensures seamless, high-performance connectivity while enforcing strict security policies across all sites. A next-generation firewall (NGFW) is essential for defending against evolving threats, offering deep packet inspection, intrusion prevention, and zero-trust controls. A high-availability network infrastructure ensures redundancy and resilience against cyber threats and system failures, while cellular failover provides business continuity by keeping stores operational even during primary network outages, preventing service disruptions that could impact compliance.

However, implementing these technologies efficiently requires a centralized management system—one that provides complete visibility, automation, and remote administration. Without a scalable and easy-to-use management platform, compliance efforts become fragmented, increasing risk exposure and operational burden. The additional feature functionalities within the management platform is where Network Service Providers differ. A well built-out, intuitive management platform with a comprehensive dashboard can aid in extending compliance with features like templating, allowing an IT team to standardize security policies and configurations across hundreds or thousands of locations, eliminating human error and streamlining deployment.

With networked inventory systems, customer loyalty programs, e-commerce integrations and mobile transactions, retailer can no longer focus solely on POS security; the entire infrastructure must be protected. Recommendations to expand compliance:

Network Security & Segmentation
A properly segmented network helps prevent unauthorized access to payment systems. Implementing security gateways with built-in firewalls and intrusion prevention systems ensures that only necessary traffic flows between network segments, reducing the risk of lateral attacks.

Secure Remote Connectivity
Retailers with multiple locations or distributed enterprise operations require secure, scalable connectivity. VPN concentrators enable secure remote access while maintaining compliance with PCI DSS 4.0 encryption requirements. Ensuring that only authorized personnel can access critical systems is essential for preventing data breaches.

Wireless Security
Retailers rely on Wi-Fi for customer engagement, in-store mobile payments and operational efficiency. However, unsecured wireless networks pose significant compliance risks. Deploying access points with WPA3 encryption and proper guest network segmentation ensures that customer traffic is isolated from critical business operations.

Network Visibility & Management
Retailers need a unified way to oversee their entire network estate. Managed switches provide the necessary infrastructure to enforce security policies, apply access controls and monitor network traffic in real-time, which aligns with PCI DSS 4.0’s enhanced logging and monitoring requirements.

Voice Security
Retailers using VoIP for customer service or internal communication must ensure that their voice traffic is encrypted and protected. Mako Voice Services provides secure VoIP solutions that comply with PCI DSS 4.0, preventing eavesdropping and unauthorized access.

Simplifying Compliance with Mako Networks
Mako Networks understands standardization and compliance challenges and provides retailers with a streamlined, scalable solution to maintain compliance while optimizing operational efficiencies. Mako Networks is the only network vendor with PCI-certified technology, allowing retailers to inherit compliance directly from our secure platform. Built for the distributed enterprise, Mako provides scalable solutions that unify security, networking, and compliance management.

Retailers must adopt a comprehensive, enterprise-wide security approach that extends to all network components, including branch locations, cloud integrations, and mobile payment environments. With the Mako Centralized Management System (CMS), retailers can oversee their entire network infrastructure from a single cloud-based platform, ensuring continuous compliance with PCI DSS 4.0 while focusing on their core business operations. Mako’s pre-certified system eliminates compliance complexities, enabling retailers to maintain a secure, resilient, and efficient network environment.