Validate that your software development lifecycle meets the PCI Secure Software Lifecycle Standard — proving to payment brands that security is built into every stage of your development process.
The PCI Secure SLC Standard focuses on the vendor's development practices rather than the software itself. It evaluates how your organization designs, develops, maintains, and retires payment software — ensuring security is embedded throughout the lifecycle, not bolted on at the end.
The PCI Secure Software Lifecycle (Secure SLC) Standard is part of the PCI Software Security Framework (SSF). While the companion PCI SSS standard validates the security of the software product itself, Secure SLC validates the vendor's development processes and practices.
Secure SLC qualification means the vendor has demonstrated that their software development lifecycle incorporates security governance, threat identification, vulnerability detection, secure update mechanisms, and stakeholder communication throughout the entire lifecycle — from design through end-of-life.
Once qualified, vendors can self-attest that new software and updates continue to meet the PCI SSS requirements, without requiring a full re-assessment for each release — significantly streamlining the validation process for agile development teams.
End-to-end support to qualify your development lifecycle
Evaluate your current software development lifecycle against every Secure SLC control objective. Identify gaps in governance, threat modeling, testing, deployment, and maintenance practices.
Formal assessment of your development lifecycle against the PCI Secure SLC Standard — producing the qualification report required by the PCI SSC.
We help you embed security into your development processes — threat modeling, secure coding standards, security testing integration, dependency management, and secure release procedures.
Develop the governance framework, policies, and procedures required by the standard — security roles, threat assessment methodology, vulnerability management program, and update/patch management processes.
Secure coding training for your development teams aligned with the Secure SLC standard's competency requirements — covering OWASP risks, payment-specific threats, and secure development practices.
Coordinate SLC and SSS assessments for vendors that need both lifecycle qualification and product validation — optimizing evidence collection and reducing total assessment effort.
Once SLC-qualified, you can self-attest that new releases meet PCI SSS requirements without a full re-assessment — dramatically accelerating your release cycles.
The PCI Software Security Framework (SSS + SLC) replaces the legacy PA-DSS program. SLC qualification is the modern path for payment software vendors.
Unlike PA-DSS which required per-version validation, SLC qualification validates your processes — enabling continuous delivery without per-release assessment bottlenecks.
SLC qualification demonstrates to acquirers, payment brands, and enterprise customers that your development practices meet the highest security standards in the payment industry.
The SLC assessment process itself drives improvement in your SDLC — formalizing threat modeling, security testing, and vulnerability management practices.
As the payment industry moves fully to the SSF, early SLC qualification positions your organization ahead of competitors still operating under legacy validation programs.
Our assessors understand both the SLC and SSS standards and how they interact — ensuring your qualification covers the right scope and produces the right deliverables.
We speak your developers' language — CI/CD pipelines, SAST/DAST integration, container security, dependency scanning — and can evaluate modern development practices, not just waterfall-era checklists.
We coordinate SLC with PCI DSS, SSS, and other PCI assessments to reduce total compliance effort for payment software vendors.
Whether you're transitioning from PA-DSS or pursuing SSF qualification for the first time, we'll guide your development organization through the process.
Contact us to discuss your PCI Secure SLC qualification needs.
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