Rules, Regulations, Laws = The Bare Minimum
Security compliance is often seen as the benchmark, but in truth, it’s merely the baseline. Numerous frameworks and regulations establish minimum security standards, including:
- SOC/SOC 2/SOC 3 (for service organizations and financial reporting)
- PCI DSS (for handling payment card transactions)
- GDPR, CCPA, and CPRA (for data privacy and protection)
- HIPAA and the HITRUST Framework (for healthcare data)
- FERPA (for educational institutions)
- NIST 800-171 (for government systems)
- FFEIC, Sarbanes-Oxley, and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (for financial institutions)
Yet, meeting these requirements does not equate to true security. Major breaches have occurred at fully compliant organizations:
- Marriott was PCI DSS compliant when it suffered a major data breach.
- SolarWinds was SOC 2 compliant at the time of its supply chain attack.
- British Airways faced a GDPR fine only after experiencing a data breach.
“The year 2020 broke all records when it came to data lost in breaches… The sophistication of threats increased through technologies like AI, ML, and 5G, and cooperation between hacker groups and state actors.” – Forbes, 2021
Moving Beyond Compliance
Relying solely on annual or semi-annual compliance assessments leads to outdated security postures. Environments change daily — through employee turnover, new deployments, or system updates. Real security demands ongoing evaluation.
“It’s not about reaching a static secure state, but understanding security as an ongoing process.” — Daniel Caduff, Swiss Federal Government
Why PCI DSS Applies Broadly
The PCI DSS standard affects almost every organization that processes credit card payments — including retailers, service providers, and software platforms. If you handle cardholder data, even tangentially, you’re in scope. Compliance is mandatory at least annually and whenever significant infrastructure changes occur.
Network Segmentation: A Smart Strategy
While PCI DSS doesn’t mandate network segmentation, implementing it can reduce compliance scope and significantly improve security. By isolating cardholder data environments (CDE) from the rest of the network, organizations lower risk and simplify compliance.
Segmented networks limit exposure in the event of a breach. Instead of attackers gaining access to the entire environment, they are contained to smaller, isolated areas — reducing potential damage and recovery effort.
“Segmentation can reduce both cost and effort in PCI DSS compliance and help ensure that CDE traffic is limited to known and trusted sources.” – SecurityMetrics
Continuous Testing with NodeZero
Horizon3.ai offers Automated Pen Testing as a Service (APTaaS™) through its platform, NodeZero. This platform simulates real-world attackers to continuously evaluate your security and compliance posture — not just once a year.
With NodeZero, penetration testing for PCI DSS, SOC 2, and segmentation validation can be performed on-demand. The platform automates reconnaissance, privilege escalation, lateral movement, and post-exploitation — giving security teams a clear view of exploitable paths and misconfigurations.
According to PCI DSS 3.2.1, organizations must conduct both internal and external penetration tests annually, and after any major change. If segmentation is used to limit PCI scope, testing must validate its effectiveness. NodeZero satisfies these requirements while also offering continuous validation.
Efficiency Gains Over Traditional Pen Testing
Traditional pen tests are labor-intensive, costly, and limited in scope. By contrast, NodeZero enables:
- Self-service assessments without third-party consultants
- Continuous testing with fast turnaround
- Coverage across over 99% of the environment, versus 1-2% traditionally
- Reports generated in hours instead of weeks
A typical 8-week pentest costing $25K can now be replaced by agile, internal operations in under a day — often with a flat rate for unlimited use.
“Horizon3 identified those critical few vulnerabilities that are actually exploitable, allowing us to maximize increased security with the minimum effort.” – Large Manufacturing Customer
Scope and Segmentation Validation Made Simple
NodeZero’s PCI DSS Scoping and Segmentation Assessment checks for unwanted access pathways:
- Can an attacker pivot into the CDE from an uncontrolled segment?
- Can they pivot out of it into other environments?
By automatically chaining weak credentials, misconfigurations, and open services, NodeZero maps potential paths attackers could exploit across your network. This helps validate both intended boundaries and blind spots.
At the end of each assessment, NodeZero generates a 1-click report to support compliance documentation.
Beyond Compliance: Toward Zero Trust
Network segmentation isn’t just about meeting audit requirements. It’s a fundamental building block for achieving a zero-trust architecture — where each segment, system, and user must verify trust before access.
With methodical segmentation and continuous testing through NodeZero, organizations can evolve from reactive compliance to proactive, risk-based security.