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

12.8.4 Annual monitoring of TPSP compliance status

The entity must run a program that checks, at least every 12 months, where each TPSP stands on PCI DSS compliance. Applicability: where a TPSP meets PCI DSS requirements on the entity's behalf (a firewall service, for example), the entity must work with it to ensure those requirements are met; if the TPSP falls short, those requirements also count as not in place for the entity. Customized approach objective: each TPSP's compliance standing gets checked periodically.

Source: PCI DSS v4.0.1, 12.8.4. 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
Policy repository / GRC workspace
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

  • Current AOCs or alternative evidence for each TPSP, dated within 12 months · Vendor register / contract repository
  • Follow-up records for TPSPs with expired or missing evidence · Vendor register / contract repository

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

  • TPSP compliance monitoring procedure · Policy repository / GRC workspace
  • Monitoring tracker showing review dates and status · Policy repository / GRC workspace

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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12.8.3 Due diligence before engaging TPSPs · 12.8.5 Responsibility allocation between entity and TPSPs