Data Discovery for PCI DSS Accreditation in Government

This case study details the efforts of a state-based Australian government entity to achieve PCI DSS Merchant Level 1 accreditation by assessing its IT landscape for sensitive data. The organization faced the challenge of identifying sensitive information, including over 32,000 credit card details and more than 110,000 other sensitive data points. The project utilized Voltage Fusion, an AI-driven data discovery solution, which provided a data discovery accuracy rate of approximately 89%. The necessity for this accreditation arose when the department's transaction volume exceeded six million per year, requiring a transition from level 2 to level 1 compliance, which involves external audits and quarterly network scans. The study outlines the significant findings from the data discovery process, including the potential value of exposed data in the wrong hands, estimated at over AUD$200 million. The case study also emphasizes the importance of ongoing data management strategies to ensure compliance and security moving forward.