EvidenceSheet
PCI DSS v4.0.1 · Req 12: Information Security Policies

12.10.2 Annual review and testing of the incident response plan

On a cycle of no more than 12 months, the entity must review its security incident response plan, updating the content where needed, and must test it, with the test covering every element listed in Requirement 12.10.1. The guidance explains that tests can take the form of simulated incidents or table-top exercises involving relevant personnel, and that reviewing how well the simulated response went helps confirm nothing required is missing from the plan. Customized approach objective: the plan stays current and undergoes periodic testing.

Source: PCI DSS v4.0.1, 12.10.2. 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.

4
artefacts
1
held by a system
1
at each review
moderate
to go live
SIEM / log platform
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

  • Annual plan review record and change log · SIEM / log platform

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

  • Table-top or simulation exercise report · Document repository

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

  • Exercise participant list · Document repository
  • Test coverage map against the 12.10.1 elements · Document repository

First move

Start with the 1 of 4 artefacts that already live in a system (SIEM / log platform); 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

12.10.1 Incident response plan ready for activation · 12.10.3 Incident response personnel available 24/7