PCI-DSS Compliance Guide

Overview

ASCEND provides comprehensive support for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) compliance when deploying AI agents in cardholder data environments (CDE). This guide covers how ASCEND maps to PCI-DSS 4.0 requirements.

Applicable Versions:

• PCI-DSS 4.0 (effective March 2024)
• PCI-DSS 3.2.1 (legacy support)

Control Mapping Summary

PCI-DSS Requirement	ASCEND Feature	Coverage
3.5 - Protect stored cardholder data	Data masking, encryption	Full
6.5 - Secure development	Code analysis patterns	Full
7.1 - Restrict access	Policy engine, RBAC	Full
8 - Authentication	JWT/API key auth, MFA	Full
10 - Track and monitor	Audit logs, analytics	Full

Requirement 3.5: Protect Stored Account Data

3.5.1: Retention Policies

ASCEND enforces data retention policies for cardholder data processed by AI agents.

How ASCEND Supports This:

# Organization Settings
data_retention:
  default_retention_days: 90
  cardholder_data_retention_days: 0  # Do not retain
  audit_log_retention_years: 7

Evidence Collection:

• Data lineage tracking via DataLineage table
• Retention policy enforcement in DataSubjectRightsService
• Automated purge schedules

3.5.2: Data Masking

AI agents automatically mask cardholder data in logs and responses.

ASCEND Configuration:

{
  "data_masking": {
    "enabled": true,
    "patterns": [
      {
        "name": "credit_card_number",
        "pattern": "\\b(?:\\d{4}[\\s-]?){3}\\d{4}\\b",
        "replacement": "****-****-****-{last4}"
      },
      {
        "name": "cvv",
        "pattern": "\\b\\d{3,4}\\b",
        "replacement": "***"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Audit Evidence:

Control	Evidence Location	Frequency
Data masking applied	agent_actions.parameters	Real-time
Unmasked data access	audit_logs	Real-time
Masking configuration	org_settings	On change

Requirement 6.5: Secure Development Practices

6.5.1: Injection Flaws

ASCEND detects and blocks SQL injection, command injection, and code injection in AI-generated code.

Code Analysis Patterns:

Pattern ID	PCI-DSS Mapping	Description
SQL-006	6.5.1	SQL injection (tautology)
SQL-007	6.5.1	UNION-based SQL injection
PY-001	6.5.1	eval()/exec() injection
PY-002	6.5.1	Command injection (shell=True)

Configuration:

{
  "code_analysis": {
    "enabled": true,
    "mode": "enforce",
    "block_threshold": 90,
    "enabled_categories": [
      "injection",
      "code_execution",
      "data_destruction"
    ]
  }
}

6.5.2: Buffer Overflows

Prompt security patterns detect attempts to overflow context windows or inject excessive data.

Pattern ID	Description
PROMPT-011	Base64 payload overflow detection
PROMPT-012	Unicode smuggling detection

6.5.3: Insecure Cryptographic Storage

ASCEND detects hardcoded credentials and secrets in AI-generated code.

Pattern ID	Description
CRED-001	Hardcoded password/secret detection
CRED-002	AWS access key detection

Evidence:

SELECT pattern_id, COUNT(*) as detections, MAX(risk_score) as max_risk
FROM code_pattern_audit_log
WHERE category = 'credential_exposure'
  AND created_at >= NOW() - INTERVAL '30 days'
GROUP BY pattern_id;

Requirement 7.1: Restrict Access to System Components

7.1.1: Access Control Policies

ASCEND's policy engine enforces least-privilege access for AI agents.

Policy Configuration:

{
  "policy_name": "pci_dss_agent_restrictions",
  "description": "Restrict agent access to cardholder data",
  "rules": [
    {
      "action": "read_cardholder_data",
      "effect": "deny",
      "conditions": {
        "agent_risk_level": ["high", "critical"],
        "data_classification": "pci"
      }
    },
    {
      "action": "execute_sql",
      "effect": "require_approval",
      "conditions": {
        "tables": ["credit_cards", "payment_methods", "transactions"]
      }
    }
  ]
}

7.1.2: Role-Based Access Control

ASCEND implements RBAC for both users and AI agents.

Role	Permissions	Cardholder Data Access
agent_readonly	Read non-sensitive	None
agent_standard	Read/Write	Masked only
agent_elevated	Elevated operations	Requires approval
agent_admin	Full access	Requires MFA + approval

API Endpoint:

GET /api/v1/rbac/roles
Authorization: Bearer {token}

Response:
{
  "roles": [
    {
      "name": "pci_agent",
      "permissions": ["read_masked_pan", "process_payment"],
      "restrictions": ["no_raw_cardholder_data", "no_cvv_access"]
    }
  ]
}

7.1.3: Access Provisioning

All agent permissions are provisioned through the registration process with full audit trail.

Evidence:

SELECT ra.agent_id, ra.capabilities, ra.max_risk_threshold,
       al.action, al.actor_id, al.created_at
FROM registered_agents ra
JOIN audit_logs al ON al.resource_id = ra.agent_id::text
WHERE al.resource_type = 'registered_agent'
ORDER BY al.created_at DESC;

Requirement 8: Identify and Authenticate Access

8.1: User Identification

All API access requires authenticated identity with organization context.

Authentication Methods:

Method	Use Case	PCI-DSS Mapping
JWT (RS256)	User sessions	8.1.1, 8.2.1
API Keys	Service accounts	8.1.1, 8.6.1
MFA	Elevated access	8.4.1

8.2: Authentication Factors

JWT Token Structure:

{
  "sub": "user_123",
  "organization_id": 456,
  "role": "security_admin",
  "iat": 1705766400,
  "exp": 1705770000,
  "jti": "unique-token-id",
  "mfa_verified": true
}

8.3: Strong Cryptography

• JWT signing: RS256 (RSA with SHA-256)
• API key hashing: SHA-256 with salt
• Transport: TLS 1.3 required

Configuration:

{
  "authentication": {
    "jwt_algorithm": "RS256",
    "jwt_expiry_seconds": 3600,
    "api_key_hash_algorithm": "sha256",
    "require_mfa_for_elevated": true,
    "session_timeout_minutes": 30
  }
}

8.6: Service Account Management

AI agents authenticate via registered API keys with restricted scopes.

POST /api/v1/agents/register
Authorization: Bearer {admin_token}
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "agent_id": "payment-processor-agent",
  "capabilities": ["process_payment", "read_masked_pan"],
  "max_risk_threshold": 70,
  "pci_compliant": true
}

Response:
{
  "agent_id": "payment-processor-agent",
  "api_key": "ask_live_...",
  "api_key_id": "aki_...",
  "created_at": "2026-01-20T00:00:00Z"
}

Requirement 10: Track and Monitor Access

10.1: Audit Logging

ASCEND maintains immutable audit logs for all system activity.

Logged Events:

Event Type	PCI-DSS Mapping	Data Captured
Authentication	10.2.1	user_id, method, success/fail, IP
Authorization	10.2.2	action, resource, decision, policy
Data Access	10.2.3	table, operation, row_count
Configuration	10.2.4	old_value, new_value, changed_by
Security Events	10.2.5	pattern_id, risk_score, blocked

Audit Log Schema:

CREATE TABLE audit_logs (
    id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    organization_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
    event_type VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
    action VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
    resource_type VARCHAR(100),
    resource_id VARCHAR(255),
    actor_id VARCHAR(255),
    actor_ip INET,
    user_agent TEXT,
    risk_level VARCHAR(20),
    details JSONB,
    created_at TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT NOW()
);

10.2: Automated Audit Trails

Real-time Logging:

# Every agent action is automatically logged
audit_log = AuditLog(
    organization_id=org_id,
    event_type="AGENT_ACTION",
    action=action_type,
    resource_type="agent_action",
    resource_id=str(action_id),
    actor_id=agent_id,
    details={
        "tool": tool_name,
        "parameters_hash": params_hash,
        "risk_score": risk_score,
        "policy_decision": decision
    }
)

10.3: Audit Log Protection

• Logs are append-only (no UPDATE/DELETE)
• Stored in separate database with restricted access
• Encrypted at rest (AES-256)
• Retention: 7 years minimum

10.4: Time Synchronization

All timestamps use UTC with timezone awareness:

created_at TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT NOW()

10.5: Secure Audit Logs

Access Control:

{
  "audit_log_access": {
    "roles_allowed": ["security_admin", "compliance_officer"],
    "operations_allowed": ["read"],
    "require_mfa": true
  }
}

Evidence Collection

Daily Evidence Reports

Generate PCI-DSS evidence reports:

POST /api/v1/compliance/reports/pci-dss
Authorization: Bearer {token}
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "report_type": "daily_evidence",
  "date_range": {
    "start": "2026-01-19",
    "end": "2026-01-20"
  },
  "requirements": ["3.5", "6.5", "7.1", "8", "10"]
}

Response:

{
  "report_id": "pci-report-20260120",
  "generated_at": "2026-01-20T10:00:00Z",
  "evidence": {
    "requirement_3_5": {
      "data_masked_count": 1523,
      "retention_policy_active": true,
      "cardholder_data_stored": false
    },
    "requirement_6_5": {
      "code_analysis_enabled": true,
      "injections_blocked": 12,
      "patterns_active": 16
    },
    "requirement_7_1": {
      "policies_enforced": 8,
      "access_denied_count": 45,
      "least_privilege_verified": true
    },
    "requirement_8": {
      "mfa_enforced": true,
      "failed_auth_count": 3,
      "api_keys_rotated": 2
    },
    "requirement_10": {
      "audit_logs_count": 15234,
      "log_integrity_verified": true,
      "retention_days": 2555
    }
  }
}

Audit Preparation Checklist

Requirement	Evidence Source	Export Format
3.5.1	Data retention policies	JSON/PDF
3.5.2	Masking configurations	JSON
6.5.1	Code pattern detections	CSV/JSON
7.1.1	Policy definitions	JSON
7.1.2	Role assignments	CSV
8.1.1	Authentication logs	CSV/JSON
8.3.1	Encryption configurations	JSON
10.1	Complete audit trail	CSV/JSON

API Reference

Generate Compliance Report

POST /api/v1/compliance/reports
Authorization: Bearer {token}
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "framework": "pci-dss",
  "version": "4.0",
  "scope": ["3.5", "6.5", "7.1", "8", "10"],
  "date_range": {
    "start": "2026-01-01",
    "end": "2026-01-20"
  }
}

Export Audit Logs

GET /api/v1/audit-logs/export
Authorization: Bearer {token}
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "format": "csv",
  "date_range": {
    "start": "2026-01-19",
    "end": "2026-01-20"
  },
  "event_types": ["AGENT_ACTION", "AUTHENTICATION", "POLICY_EVALUATION"]
}

Related

• SOC 2 Compliance
• HIPAA Compliance
• Code Analysis Patterns
• Audit Logs
• Policy Engine