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

12.3.2 Targeted risk analysis for each customized-approach requirement

For every requirement the entity meets through the customized approach, a targeted risk analysis must be carried out that includes: documented evidence covering each element set out in Appendix D (Customized Approach), at minimum a controls matrix and a risk analysis; sign-off of that evidence by senior management; and redoing the analysis on a cycle of at least every 12 months. Applicability: applies only to entities that use a Customized Approach. Customized approach objective: this requirement forms part of the customized approach itself and must be satisfied by anyone using that approach.

Source: PCI DSS v4.0.1, 12.3.2. 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.

4
artefacts
0
held by a system
2
at each review
hard
to go live
Document repository
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

none for this control

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

  • Senior management approval record for the documentation · Document repository
  • Evidence of re-performance within the last 12 months · Document repository

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

  • Controls matrix per customized requirement · Policy repository / GRC workspace
  • Appendix D risk analysis document per customized control · Document repository

First move

No system holds this evidence for you: it is people and documents. Reminders and routing to the owner still save time. Put the document under version control with an owner and review date, and log each review as a record with reviewer and date.

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.

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12.3.1 Targeted risk analysis for flexible-frequency requirements · 12.3.3 Cryptographic cipher suite and protocol inventory reviewed annually