EvidenceSheet
PCI DSS v4.0.1 · Req 1: Network Security Controls

1.2.7 Six-monthly review of NSC configurations

Network security control configurations must be reviewed at least every six months, confirming each time that they remain relevant and effective. The testing procedures also check that configurations no longer backed by a business justification have been removed or updated, and the guidance suggests entities with many network changes consider reviewing more often. Applicability: no special notes; applies to every assessed entity. Customized approach objective: NSC settings that permit or block access to trusted networks are checked periodically so that only authorised connections with a current business justification remain allowed.

Source: PCI DSS v4.0.1, 1.2.7. The statement above is our statement of the clause, read from the published text and cited so you can check it against the official text, not the instrument verbatim. Open PCI DSS v4.0.1 in the compliance library.

Version 4.0.1 is the active version; 4.0 has been retired. Appendix A1 applies only to multi-tenant service providers, A2 only to card-present POS POI terminals that still use SSL or early TLS, and A3 only when a payment brand or acquirer requires it. Which requirements apply to you follows your validation type.

4
artefacts
1
held by a system
2
at each review
moderate
to go live
Ticketing / ITSM
where the evidence lives
teal = a system already holds it · olive = produced at each review. To go live: easy when half or more of the artefacts are already held by a system, moderate from a quarter to a half, hard below a quarter.

These are the artefacts auditors commonly ask for on this requirement, our guidance rather than text from the standard. Your assessor decides what is sufficient in your context, and asks for samples across the period when a report covers one.

system holds itEvidence a system already holds

  • Change tickets for rules removed or modified as a result of the review · Ticketing / ITSM

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

  • Completed review records for the last two cycles, dated no more than six months apart · Document repository
  • Rule-by-rule review worksheets showing justification checks and reviewer sign-off · Document repository

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

  • Documented NSC review procedure stating the six-month frequency · Policy repository / GRC workspace

First move

Start with the 1 of 4 artefacts that already live in a system (Ticketing / ITSM); keep the periodic reviews but log each one as a dated record with a named reviewer.

Common gaps auditors find

Do this for your whole sheet

Paste the rows you run your controls from and get this mapping for every control at once, with the periodic-review ones flagged and a first move per row. No account for the first run.

Build my evidence sheet

1.2.6 Security features for insecure services in use · 1.2.8 NSC configuration files secured and consistent