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PCI DSSAWS SecurityDevSecOps

PCI Readiness & Remediation for AWS-Native Companies

We prepare your AWS environment for PCI DSS assessment. You walk into the audit with hardened infrastructure, automated evidence, and zero surprises.

DevOpsPlant is a PCI advisory and remediation partner. We work alongside certified QSA firms to ensure your environment is compliant before the assessor arrives.

The Problem

Why PCI Audits Fail

Most PCI DSS assessment failures are not caused by a lack of intent. They are caused by a gap between what the policy says and what the infrastructure actually does. That gap widens in AWS environments where traditional compliance approaches collide with cloud-native architecture.

Undocumented Architecture

Security groups, IAM roles, and network segmentation that evolved organically. No clear cardholder data environment boundary. The QSA cannot assess what the client cannot explain.

Missing or Stale Evidence

Manual screenshots collected weeks before the audit. Configuration drift between evidence capture and assessment date. Evidence that does not match the current environment state.

Last-Minute Remediation

Encryption, logging, and access controls implemented under pressure in the final weeks. Rushed changes that introduce new vulnerabilities while trying to close existing gaps.

Our Approach

Structured Path to Audit Readiness

We follow a four-stage engagement model designed to take your AWS environment from its current state to a position where the QSA assessment is a confirmation of work already done, not a discovery exercise.

01

Pre-QSA Gap Assessment

We map your AWS environment against every applicable PCI DSS requirement. This produces a prioritised remediation backlog with each finding linked to specific infrastructure, the relevant PCI requirement, and the evidence needed to demonstrate compliance.

02

Structured Remediation Sprints

We execute remediation in focused sprints: network segmentation, encryption controls, IAM hardening, logging and monitoring, vulnerability management. Each sprint closes specific gaps and produces verifiable evidence as a deliverable.

03

Audit Evidence Preparation

We build automated evidence collection pipelines using AWS Config, CloudTrail, Security Hub, and custom tooling. Evidence is timestamped, machine-verifiable, and organised by PCI DSS requirement. No manual screenshots. No stale artefacts.

04

QSA Handover Support

We prepare a structured handover package for your QSA, including environment documentation, control mapping, evidence index, and pre-assessment walkthrough. We remain available during the assessment to answer technical questions and resolve findings in real time.

Why DevOpsPlant

What Makes Us Different

We are not a traditional GRC consultancy that hands you a spreadsheet and a policy template. We are engineers who build secure infrastructure.

AWS-Native Architecture Expertise

We understand how PCI DSS requirements map to AWS services. VPC design, KMS encryption, IAM boundaries, CloudTrail integrity, Security Hub compliance packs. This is not theory for us. It is daily execution.

DevSecOps Automation

Compliance controls implemented as code. Terraform modules for PCI-aligned infrastructure. Automated drift detection. CI/CD pipelines with built-in security gates. Evidence generated as a byproduct of operations, not a manual collection exercise.

Evidence-First Implementation

Every control we implement is designed with auditability in mind from day one. We do not build first and document later. The evidence pipeline is part of the architecture, producing clean, timestamped artefacts that QSAs can verify independently.

We Prepare You Before the QSA Arrives

Our goal is that the QSA assessment is a straightforward validation of controls already in place. No surprises, no scramble, no supplementary evidence requests. The environment speaks for itself.

QSA Partnership

How We Work With QSAs

Important clarity: DevOpsPlant does not perform PCI DSS assessments and does not issue Reports on Compliance (RoC). That authority belongs exclusively to Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) companies certified by the PCI Security Standards Council.

We operate as a technical advisory and remediation partner. We work alongside your chosen QSA firm, ensuring the environment they assess is well-architected, properly documented, and demonstrably compliant.

Clear Boundary of Responsibility

We prepare and remediate. The QSA assesses and certifies. There is no ambiguity about who does what.

We Partner With Certified QSA Firms

We maintain working relationships with established QSA companies. If you do not have a QSA, we can facilitate introductions to firms we trust.

We Reduce QSA Review Time

When the evidence is clean, the controls are documented, and the environment matches the policies, the QSA engagement runs faster. This reduces your assessment costs and shortens the timeline to compliance.

We Help You Pass the First Time

Our pre-assessment readiness review is designed to surface and resolve any potential findings before the QSA engagement begins. The goal is a clean assessment with no material non-compliance findings.

Engagement Model

How We Engage

Our engagements follow a three-phase structure designed to take you from current state to audit-ready with predictable timelines and clear deliverables.

Phase 12 - 3 weeks

Assessment & Planning

  • AWS environment discovery and CDE scoping
  • Full PCI DSS gap analysis against current controls
  • Prioritised remediation backlog
  • Timeline and resource plan
Phase 26 - 12 weeks

Remediation & Implementation

  • Security hardening across VPC, IAM, encryption, logging
  • Automated evidence collection pipelines
  • Policy and procedure documentation
  • Ongoing control validation and testing
Phase 32 - 4 weeks

Audit Readiness & QSA Handover

  • Internal readiness assessment
  • Evidence package compilation and review
  • QSA handover documentation
  • On-call support during assessment window

Typical Client Profile

IndustryFinTech, SaaS, Payments, Digital Commerce
InfrastructureAWS-primary or AWS-exclusive environments
StageFirst PCI assessment or annual recertification
Team Size10 - 200 engineering staff with limited security capacity

Ready to Prepare for PCI DSS?

Book a PCI readiness call with our team. We will assess your current posture, outline the path to compliance, and give you an honest view of what it will take.

No obligation. No sales pitch. A technical conversation about your environment and your compliance timeline.

Book a PCI Readiness Call