What evidence do auditors commonly ask for on 10.3.2 Audit log files protected from modification?

Permission settings showing write or delete rights on log files are restricted; Architecture diagram showing log servers segregated from general networks; Immutable or append-only storage configuration for log data; Interview notes with administrators on how log tampering is prevented.

What is the most common gap auditors find on 10.3.2?

System administrators can edit or delete logs on the servers they administer

PCI DSS v4.0.1 · Req 10: Logging and Monitoring

`10.3.2` Audit log files protected from modification

Audit log files must be protected so that individuals cannot modify them. The testing procedure looks at physical segregation, network segregation and/or access control mechanisms as the means. Applies to all entities. The guidance advises protecting logs on the originating systems and wherever else they are stored, and keeping them out of publicly accessible locations, because unprotected logs cannot be relied on after a compromise. Objective under the customized approach: personnel cannot alter stored activity records.

Source: PCI DSS v4.0.1, 10.3.2. 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.

artefacts

held by a system

at each review

easy

to go live

Identity provider / directory

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

Permission settings showing write or delete rights on log files are restricted · Identity provider / directory
Immutable or append-only storage configuration for log data · SIEM / log platform

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

Interview notes with administrators on how log tampering is prevented · SIEM / log platform

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

Architecture diagram showing log servers segregated from general networks · Policy repository / GRC workspace

First move

Automate the pull from your Identity provider / directory. Scheduled export of users, roles and MFA state from the directory; access-review completion pulled from the IdP, not a spreadsheet.

Common gaps auditors find

System administrators can edit or delete logs on the servers they administer
Log server sits on the same flat network as user workstations
Log storage bucket allows object deletion by operations accounts

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

10.3.1 Audit log read access limited to job need · 10.3.3 Audit logs promptly backed up to central secure storage