Validate the security of your payment software product for listing on the PCI SSC's Validated Payment Software registry — the modern replacement for PA-DSS validation.
The PCI Software Security Standard (SSS) evaluates the security of the payment software itself — how it protects sensitive data, handles authentication, logs security events, and defends against known attack types. We help payment software vendors achieve SSS validation efficiently.
The PCI Software Security Standard (SSS) is part of the PCI Software Security Framework (SSF) and provides security requirements for payment software products. While the companion Secure SLC standard validates the vendor's development processes, SSS validates the security of the software product itself — its design, features, and configuration.
SSS covers how the software protects payment data, manages authentication, handles cryptographic operations, logs security events, and resists common attack techniques. Validated software is listed on the PCI SSC's Validated Payment Software registry — a key requirement for acquirers, payment facilitators, and merchants selecting payment applications.
SSS validation is the modern replacement for the legacy PA-DSS program. For vendors with Secure SLC qualification, subsequent software versions can be self-attested rather than requiring full re-assessment — making the combined SSS + SLC approach ideal for agile payment software companies.
End-to-end support to validate your payment software product
Evaluate your payment software against SSS security objectives before the formal assessment. Identify gaps in data protection, authentication, cryptography, logging, and attack resistance.
Our SSF assessors conduct the formal product validation — testing, reviewing, and documenting how your software meets each SSS requirement for listing on the PCI SSC registry.
We work with your development team to address identified security gaps — from data protection improvements and cryptographic hardening to logging enhancements and attack defense mechanisms.
Develop the secure implementation guide that customers need to deploy and configure your software securely — a required deliverable for SSS-validated software.
Coordinate SSS product validation with Secure SLC lifecycle qualification — enabling future self-attestation for new releases and reducing long-term validation overhead.
Ongoing support for re-validations when significant software changes occur, and monitoring of PCI SSC updates to the Software Security Framework.
Our assessors are qualified under the PCI Software Security Framework and understand both SSS and SLC requirements — ensuring coordinated, efficient assessments.
We specialize in payment technology — understanding tokenization, encryption, payment APIs, and the specific attack vectors that payment software faces.
We've helped vendors transition from PA-DSS to the SSF — understanding the differences, mapping existing controls, and identifying the additional work needed for SSS validation.
Whether you're transitioning from PA-DSS or validating a new payment software product, we'll guide you through the SSS assessment efficiently.
Contact us to discuss your PCI SSS validation needs.
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