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

10.6.1 System clocks synchronized with time-sync technology

System clocks and time must be synchronized using time-synchronization technology. Applies to all entities. Applicability: keeping the technology current includes handling its vulnerabilities and applying patches in line with Requirement 6.3.1 and Requirement 6.3.3. The guidance names Network Time Protocol (NTP) as one example and explains that consistent time lets logs from different systems be put in an exact order of events for forensic work. Customized approach objective: every system shares one common time.

Source: PCI DSS v4.0.1, 10.6.1. 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
3
held by a system
0
at each review
easy
to go live
Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling
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

  • NTP or equivalent configuration on sampled systems · Cloud console / configuration management
  • Patch and version records for time servers and NTP software · Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling
  • Vulnerability scan results covering time-synchronization services · Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

none for this control

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

  • Monitoring showing clock drift across systems · Policy repository / GRC workspace

First move

Automate the pull from your Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling. Scan schedule, findings and remediation age straight from the scanner; patch compliance from the patch console.

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

10.5.1 Keep logs 12 months, latest three months online · 10.6.2 Systems configured to correct and consistent time