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

12.4.2 Quarterly reviews that personnel follow security procedures

Service providers only: at least every three months, reviews must confirm that personnel carry out their tasks in keeping with every security policy and operational procedure. The reviews must be done by people other than those responsible for the task, and they cover at least: daily log reviews; configuration reviews of network security controls; applying configuration standards when new systems are built; handling of security alerts; and change-management processes. The guidance explains the aim is to confirm activities happen, not to redo them. Applicability: applies only when the assessed entity is a service provider. Customized approach objective: periodic manual inspection of records confirms that key PCI DSS controls operate effectively.

Source: PCI DSS v4.0.1, 12.4.2. 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

  • Sampled underlying records such as log review sign-offs and change tickets · SIEM / log platform

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

  • Evidence reviewer differs from task performer (names and roles) · Identity provider / directory

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

  • Quarterly review procedure listing the five task areas · Policy repository / GRC workspace
  • Completed review checklists for the last four quarters · 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

12.4.1 Executive responsibility for a PCI DSS compliance program · 12.4.2.1 Documentation of quarterly operational reviews