Episode 11 — Control third-party service risk with enforceable contracts

Third-party relationships are common in payment environments, but the PCI exam expects you to distinguish convenience from compliance by anchoring obligations in writing. This episode clarifies the exam-ready structure of enforceable contracts: role definitions that identify the customer as merchant and the provider as service provider; explicit data handling and security obligations referencing PCI DSS; right-to-audit or evidence-delivery clauses; incident notification timelines; and termination, data return, and secure destruction terms. You will learn why an Attestation of Compliance (AOC) is necessary but insufficient: the contract must map who operates which controls, who monitors them, and which artifacts are furnished, on what cadence, and to whom. We connect this to risk tiering—payment gateways, hosting providers, managed security services, and software vendors—and to the expectation that higher-impact services require tighter language and more frequent evidence review.In practice scenarios, you will evaluate a hosting provider who claims “PCI compliant” without offering scope boundaries or log delivery, a call center vendor that records calls and must prevent sensitive authentication data retention, and a tokenization provider whose AOC is valid but misaligned to your actual service features. Best practices include a responsibility matrix appended to the agreement, a defined evidence package (AOC, network architecture overviews, penetration test summaries where permissible, segmentation test attestations), and a requirement to notify of significant change. Troubleshooting guidance addresses expired attestations, mismatched services versus assessed scope, and providers who will not commit to incident reporting timelines. The correct exam choices will favor contractual clarity, evidence specificity, and the ability to verify—not trust—that provider controls operate effectively. Produced by BareMetalCyber.com, where you’ll find more cyber audio courses, books, and information to strengthen your educational path. Also, if you want to stay up to date with the latest news, visit DailyCyber.News for a newsletter you can use, and a daily podcast you can commute with.

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