EvidenceSheet
PCI DSS v4.0.1 · Req 4: Protect Cardholder Data in Transit

4.2.2 PAN secured when sent by end-user messaging

Whenever PAN is sent through end-user messaging channels (e-mail, instant messaging, SMS, chat and the like), it must be protected with strong cryptography. Sending PAN this way should only happen where a documented business need exists, governed by the acceptable use policies set under Requirement 12.2.1. Applicability: the obligation still applies when a customer or other third party asks for PAN to be sent to them by messaging. If cardholder data arrives unsolicited over an insecure channel not meant for sensitive data, the entity may either bring that channel into CDE scope and secure it to PCI DSS, or delete the data and put measures in place to stop the channel being used for cardholder data. Objective under the customized approach: cleartext PAN cannot be read or captured from messages sent over end-user messaging channels.

Source: PCI DSS v4.0.1, 4.2.2. 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
Cloud console / configuration management
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

  • Configuration of message encryption tooling (for example enforced encrypted e-mail or DLP-triggered encryption) · Cloud console / configuration management

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

  • Records of handling unsolicited PAN received by messaging, showing deletion or scoping decisions · Document repository

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

  • Policy stating when, if ever, PAN may be sent by e-mail, chat, SMS or instant messaging and how it must be encrypted · Policy repository / GRC workspace
  • Vendor documentation confirming the encryption applied by the messaging platform · Vendor register / contract repository

First move

Start with the 1 of 4 artefacts that already live in a system (Cloud console / configuration management); 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.

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4.2.1.2 Wireless networks use strong cryptography · 5.1.1 Requirement 5 policies and procedures maintained and communicated