What evidence do auditors commonly ask for on 5.3.4 Anti-malware audit logs enabled and retained?

Anti-malware logging configuration showing event types captured; Log forwarding configuration to the SIEM or log store; Retention settings aligned to Requirement 10.5.1, showing at least 12 months of anti-malware history kept and retrievable without delay; Sample log query retrieving anti-malware events from roughly a year ago.

What is the most common gap auditors find on 5.3.4?

Console retains events for only 30 or 90 days and nothing is forwarded

PCI DSS v4.0.1 · Req 5: Anti-Malware

`5.3.4` Anti-malware audit logs enabled and retained

Audit logs produced by the anti-malware solution or solutions must be turned on and kept in line with Requirement 10.5.1. These logs let the entity confirm that updates and scans run as expected, that malware is found and dealt with, and trace how malware got in and what it did. Applicability: applies to every entity in scope, with no special notes. Customized approach objective: records of anti-malware activity are available immediately and kept for at least 12 months.

Source: PCI DSS v4.0.1, 5.3.4. 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.

artefacts

held by a system

at each review

easy

to go live

Endpoint management (MDM / EDR)

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

Anti-malware logging configuration showing event types captured · Endpoint management (MDM / EDR)
Log forwarding configuration to the SIEM or log store · SIEM / log platform
Retention settings aligned to Requirement 10.5.1, showing at least 12 months of anti-malware history kept and retrievable without delay · Endpoint management (MDM / EDR)
Sample log query retrieving anti-malware events from roughly a year ago · Endpoint management (MDM / EDR)

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

none for this control

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

none for this control

First move

Automate the pull from your Endpoint management (MDM / EDR). Device compliance report from the MDM (encryption, EDR agent, OS version) on a daily pull.

Common gaps auditors find

Console retains events for only 30 or 90 days and nothing is forwarded
Endpoint logs forwarded but server anti-malware events are not
Logs retained but older ones take days to restore, failing immediate availability

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

5.3.3 Anti-malware covers removable electronic media · 5.3.5 Users cannot disable or alter anti-malware