PCI DSS Security Awareness training is required to comply with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Protection Standard (DSS) Requirement: PCI DSS Security Awareness training is necessary for PCI compliance.
- New Hire Initial training for Newly Hired GT employees & Student Workers with access to cardholder data (CHD).
- Required Annually to make sure GT Employees & Student Workers understand their obligations to protect cardholder data.
Since Student Workers are hired seasonally, any newly hired Student Workers who have not completed the PCI DSS Required Training during an Academic Calendar period* should be enrolled upon hire.
*Academic Calendar period – To keep an academic year simple, we will use August 15th of one year through August 14th of the following year (e.g., 8/15/2025 through 8/14/2026). This allows Student workers who are hired for the Fall Semester to avoid retaking the PCI-DSS Required Training in the Spring Semester of the same academic calendar year. Their PCI-DSS Annual Training would be good from August 15 through August 14 of the following year.
PCI DSS training for Georgia Tech users who process credit cards is available through Genius, directly via this self-registration link.
It can also be accessed by clicking the image below:
The PCI DSS training is required for anyone who handles Cardholder Data in the following manner:
- Card-Present Transactions: Anyone who will physically handle someone else’s credit card.
- Card-Not-Present Transactions: Anyone who will receive Cardholder Data (CHD)
Please ensure that you provide the Governance, Risk, and Compliance Team with a list of all individuals who qualify under the above guidelines and return the completed list to compliance@security.gatech.edu. The list should have the following information for each user:
- GT Username (e.g., gburdell33)
- First Name
- Last Name
The training can be retaken as many times as needed for success.
When everyone you have listed successfully passes the PCI DSS Training, we can consider your department’s PCI DSS Assessment Complete.
Important: PCI-DSS Training Requirement continues year-round for anyone being added to your team to handle Credit Cards or Cardholder Data (CHD) in your unit/department. This is a GT Treasury Requirement for Merchant ID Holders.
It is always the Merchant ID Holder’s responsibility to perform the following tasks throughout the year:
- Ensure that any new personnel handling Credit Cards or Cardholder Data (CHD) in your unit/department complete the “PCI-DSS Credit Processing Training”.
For easier processing, please ask your card handling employees to email their certificates of completion for the training to compliance@security.gatech.edu as they complete each training session.
Should you have any questions about the training, please email compliance@security.gatech.edu.