What PCI DSS compliance consulting covers in Microsoft 365 and Azure
In a Microsoft 365 and Azure estate, PCI DSS compliance consulting covers four pieces of work: deciding which Microsoft services are inside the cardholder data environment and which are kept out, mapping the PCI DSS v4.0.1 requirements to the Entra ID, Purview, Defender and Azure controls that satisfy them, configuring those controls, and assembling the evidence a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) will test. EPC Group, a Houston-based Microsoft consulting firm, performs those four pieces; the QSA who signs the Report on Compliance is engaged separately by the client, and EPC Group does not act as the assessor of its own work.
The starting fact for every engagement is Microsoft's own position: Microsoft completes an annual PCI DSS assessment with a QSA, and Azure, OneDrive for Business, SharePoint Online and Azure Communication Service are certified under PCI DSS version 4.0.1 at Service Provider Level 1, but that status does not automatically translate to PCI DSS certification for the services a customer builds or hosts on those platforms (Microsoft Learn, Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS), accessed 2026-10-20). The consulting work exists because the customer owns the remaining controls.
How to scope PCI DSS 4.0 in Azure and Microsoft 365
Scoping begins with a cardholder data flow map: where a primary account number enters (web forms, call center tools, payment terminals, partner files), where it is processed, where it rests, and which identities can reach it. EPC Group then compares that map to the services Microsoft lists as in scope for its PCI DSS attestation: Azure and Azure Government, Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Graph, Office 365 (OneDrive, SharePoint and Azure Communication Service), Power Apps, Power Automate and Power BI (same source). Exchange Online does not appear on that list, so the design decision EPC Group makes most often is to keep PAN out of email entirely and enforce it with Purview DLP rather than attempt to bring mail into the cardholder data environment.
On the Azure side, Microsoft publishes a PCI DSS Shared Responsibility Matrix that assigns each requirement to Azure, to the customer, or to both, and an Azure Policy regulatory compliance built-in initiative that maps PCI DSS controls to policy definitions, with the caveat that Azure Policy compliance is only a partial view of overall status (Microsoft Learn, PCI DSS, Azure compliance offering, accessed 2026-10-20). EPC Group uses the matrix to draw the boundary and the initiative to monitor drift after remediation.
Which Microsoft 365 features help with PCI DSS requirements
The requirements that recur in a Microsoft 365 estate are access control, protection of stored and transmitted account data, and logging. The Microsoft features EPC Group configures against them:
- Microsoft Entra Conditional Access for Requirements 7 and 8 (restrict access, identify users and authenticate). Policies are if-then statements evaluated after first-factor authentication; common policies require multifactor authentication for administrators, block legacy authentication protocols, and require managed devices for specific applications. The feature requires Microsoft Entra ID P1, and risk-based policies require Entra ID P2 (Microsoft Learn, What is Conditional Access?, accessed 2026-10-20).
- Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention for keeping PAN out of unapproved locations. DLP analyzes content with keyword, regular expression, function validation and proximity matching; it can show a policy tip, block sharing with or without an override, and quarantine items at rest; and it ships with predefined templates including Financial data (Microsoft Learn, Learn about data loss prevention, accessed 2026-10-20).
- Purview sensitivity labels for Requirements 3 and 4 where files containing account data must be encrypted and marked. Labels can apply encryption that restricts who can open content and what they can do with it, and the label persists in file metadata wherever the file travels (Microsoft Learn, Learn about sensitivity labels, accessed 2026-10-20).
- Microsoft Defender XDR and Purview Audit for Requirement 10 logging and monitoring. Defender XDR correlates signals across endpoints, identities, email and apps and provides query access to 30 days of raw signal data (Microsoft Learn, What is Microsoft Defender XDR?, accessed 2026-10-20). PCI DSS v4.0.1 Requirement 10.5.1 calls for at least 12 months of audit log history with the most recent three months immediately available (PCI Security Standards Council, PCI DSS v4.0.1, accessed 2026-10-20); Purview Audit (Standard) retains records for 180 days, and Audit (Premium) retains Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive and Entra records for one year for E5-licensed users (Microsoft Learn, Manage audit log retention policies, accessed 2026-10-20), so EPC Group designs the retention policy and any export to meet the 12-month requirement rather than assume the default does.
What a PCI DSS compliance consultant for Microsoft 365 actually does
EPC Group's Microsoft 365 consulting practice runs the identity, Defender and audit configuration, and its data governance consulting practice runs the classification, DLP and sensitivity label design that confines cardholder data. The output is a configured tenant and an evidence pack organized by requirement number, each item a dated export with the control it supports, so that the QSA's testing is a review of records rather than a hunt through portals.
Documented work
ANON-CASES: EPC Group engagement data in financial services covers mid-size and large institutions that process payment card data inside Microsoft 365 and Azure. Client names are not published here, and engagements are described by industry and organization size only. No outcome figures are quoted that cannot be traced to a signed deliverable. EPC Group is a Microsoft Solutions Partner with all six Solutions Partner Designations as of October 2026.
Primary sources
- Learn about data loss prevention — Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-10-20
- Learn about sensitivity labels — Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-10-20
- What is Conditional Access? — Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-10-20
- What is Microsoft Defender XDR? — Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-10-20
- Manage audit log retention policies — Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-10-20
Frequently Asked Questions
Which PCI DSS 4.0 requirements apply to email and SharePoint?
Wherever a primary account number (PAN) lands, the requirements on stored account data, transmission, access control and logging apply (PCI SSC, PCI DSS v4.0.1, Requirements 3, 4, 7, 8 and 10, accessed 2026-10-20). Microsoft's Office 365 PCI DSS scope lists OneDrive for Business, SharePoint Online and Azure Communication Service, and only uploaded files and documents are in scope; Exchange Online is not listed (Microsoft Learn, Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS), accessed 2026-10-20). EPC Group therefore keeps PAN out of email, enforced with Purview DLP.
Does Microsoft 365 hold PCI DSS attestation and where is it published?
Yes, for specific services. Microsoft completes an annual PCI DSS assessment with a Qualified Security Assessor, and Azure, OneDrive for Business, SharePoint Online and Azure Communication Service are certified under PCI DSS version 4.0.1 at Service Provider Level 1. The Attestation of Compliance is published in the PCI section of the Microsoft Service Trust Portal and is valid for one year from the date it is signed (Microsoft Learn, Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS), accessed 2026-10-20; PCI DSS, Azure compliance offering, accessed 2026-10-20).
How do Purview sensitivity labels and DLP support PCI scope reduction?
Scope reduction means fewer places where PAN can exist. Purview DLP policies can detect credit card numbers, show policy tips, block sharing with or without override, and quarantine items at rest, and every monitored activity is written to the Microsoft 365 audit log (Microsoft Learn, Learn about data loss prevention, accessed 2026-10-20). Sensitivity labels add encryption and content markings that travel with the file (Microsoft Learn, Learn about sensitivity labels, accessed 2026-10-20). Together they let EPC Group confine cardholder data to the few SharePoint libraries meant to hold it.
What evidence does a QSA ask for from Entra ID and Defender?
From Microsoft Entra ID, assessors typically ask for the Conditional Access policy set and its coverage report, multifactor authentication enforcement for administrators and users, legacy authentication blocks, and sign-in logs for in-scope accounts (Microsoft Learn, What is Conditional Access?, accessed 2026-10-20). From Microsoft Defender, they ask for incident and alert exports, the Secure Score history, and the DLP alert record; DLP alerts stay in the Defender portal for six months (Microsoft Learn, Learn about data loss prevention, accessed 2026-10-20). EPC Group packages these as dated exports tied to each requirement.
What is the typical sequence of a PCI readiness engagement?
EPC Group runs five steps: a cardholder data flow discovery across Microsoft 365 and Azure; a scoping decision that names the in-scope services; a gap assessment of Entra, Purview, Defender and Azure controls against PCI DSS v4.0.1; remediation in configuration, with each change recorded; and an evidence pack organized by requirement for the QSA. Purview Compliance Manager offers a premium assessment template for PCI DSS that EPC Group uses to track status (Microsoft Learn, Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS), accessed 2026-10-20).
Talk to a senior architect
If your organization stores, processes or transmits cardholder data in Microsoft 365 or Azure, a 30-minute discovery call with a senior EPC Group architect will cover the data flow map, the scoping decision and the evidence your assessor will expect. See the data governance consulting service hub for engagement structures.
Email contact@epcgroup.net or call 888-381-9725.
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