PCI Glossary of Technical Terms

A secret word or string of letters used to authenticate the user. Similar in purpose to a bank account PIN.

The payment card number (credit or debit) that identifies the issuer and the particular cardholder account. It is usually stamped on the front of a debit/credit card, and also encoded in the magnetic stripe.

Operational security is security that is based on processes and procedures, as opposed to technology.

Sometimes known as network masquerading or IP masquerading. It is a standard networking process whereby an IP address used within one network is changed to a different IP address for use within another network. It is used by many networks as a way for internal computers talk to the rest of the world with greater

A computer that is supposed to move around easily, like a notebook, or PDA.

A financial institution that enters into agreements with merchants to accept payment cards as payment for goods and services; also called acquirers or acquiring banks.

Anything used to store information. It includes hard disks, thumb-drives, paper, CDs, DVDs, etc.

Obscured in some way, such as being replaced with **** (this is often used to hide all except the last 4 digits of a card number, turning it into something like "**** **** **** 4777")

Recorded somewhere so that administrators or managers know that something happened, and know what, where, and when it happened.

An authentication tool for wireless networks.