PCI Requirement 10.5.3 – Promptly Back Up Audit Trail Files to a Centralized Log Server or Media that is Difficult to Alter

by Randy Bartels / December 20, 2022

 Prevent Unauthorized Modifications PCI Requirement 10.5.3 asks organizations to promptly back up audit trail files to a centralized log server or media that is difficult to alter. The purpose of PCI Requirement 10.5.3 is to support PCI Requirement 10.5 and prevent unauthorized modifications to audit trail files. The PCI DSS guidance also explains, “Promptly backing up the logs to a centralized log server or media that is difficult to…

PCI Requirement 10.5.2 – Protect Audit Trail Files from Unauthorized Modifications

by Randy Bartels / December 20, 2022

 Unauthorized vs. Authorized Modifications PCI Requirement 10.5.2 requires organizations to protect audit trail files from unauthorized modifications. What would an unauthorized modification look like? Audit trails contain all the correct information about events and incidents in critical systems, so malicious individuals will often seek to modify audit trails to hide their actions. What would an authorized modification look like? If an approved individual in an organization finds unencrypted cardholder…

PCI Requirement 10.5.1 – Limit Viewing of Audit Trails to Those with a Job-Related Need

by Randy Bartels / December 20, 2022

 Policy of Least Privileges Protection of audit trails requires strong access controls; once again, the policy of least privileges comes into play. Audit trails contain sensitive information that only some members of an organization should have access to. This is why PCI Requirement 10.5.1 requires organizations to limit viewing of audit trails to those with a job-related need. It’s important to note that the PCI DSS doesn’t state that…

PCI Requirement 10.5 – Secure Audit Trails so They Cannot Be Altered

by Randy Bartels / December 20, 2022

 Protecting the Integrity of Audit Trails Now that you’ve complied with other PCI Requirement 10 standards and have established audit trails, that information needs to be secured. Audit trails contain all the correct information about events and incidents, so malicious individuals will often seek to alter audit trails to hide their actions. PCI Requirement 10.5 requires that you secure audit trails so they cannot be altered. Your organization must…

PCI Requirement 10.4.3 – Time Settings Are Received from Industry-Accepted Time Sources

by Randy Bartels / December 20, 2022

 Industry-Accepted Time Sources To ensure that critical system clocks and time are consistent and correct, PCI Requirement 10.4.3 requires that time settings are received from industry-accepted time sources. This could be from something like the U.S. Navy, NASA, Google, or other organizations who use GPS for time synchronizations. The testing procedures for PCI Requirement 10.4.3 requires assessors to examine systems configurations to verify that the time servers accept time…