Which requirement focuses on protecting stored cardholder data?

The focus of this requirement is on protecting stored cardholder data, which is crucial for maintaining the integrity and confidentiality of sensitive information. This specific requirement involves implementing measures such as encryption, masking, or truncation to ensure that even if the data is accessed unlawfully, it remains unreadable or unusable for fraudulent purposes.

When addressing cardholder data, it is essential to establish strong controls that limit access, monitor usage, and safeguard the data throughout its lifecycle. By directly targeting the protection of cardholder information stored within systems, this approach helps to mitigate the risk of data breaches and compliance violations, particularly in environments governed by standards like the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).

Other requirements listed, while also important for overall security and compliance, focus on broader aspects of information security management. For instance, monitoring and testing security systems ensure that protections are functioning properly; implementing strong access control measures concerns who can access data and how; and building and maintaining a secure network addresses the infrastructure that data resides within. All these elements contribute to a comprehensive security strategy, but the primary emphasis in this case is specifically on safeguarding stored cardholder data itself.