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Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCIDSS)

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCIDSS) is a set of proprietary information security protocols that businesses are obligated to follow and merchants must agree to if they accept payment from the leading credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.

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Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCIDSS)

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCIDSS) is a set of proprietary information security protocols that businesses are obligated to follow and merchants must agree to if they accept payment from the leading credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.

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When a data breach occurs involving a merchant that has agreed to comply with the PCIDSS, the merchant is subject to various fines and penalties. Coverage for these fines and penalties is available within some cyber and privacy insurance policies, more specifically under the insuring agreement known as PCI fines and assessments coverage. This insuring agreement also covers defense costs that an insured incurs if it seeks to contest the imposition of such fines and penalties.

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