8.3.8 Authentication policies communicated to users
Authentication policies and procedures must be documented and communicated to all users, and must include: guidance on choosing strong authentication factors; guidance on how users should protect their factors; instructions not to reuse passwords or passphrases used before; and instructions to change a password or passphrase when compromise is suspected or known, plus how to report the incident. Objective under the customized approach: users know how to use authentication factors properly and can get help and guidance when needed.
Source: PCI DSS v4.0.1, 8.3.8. 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.
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
- Distribution records such as onboarding packs, intranet pages or training completion · HR system / LMS
- Interview notes with a sample of users · HR system / LMS
governing documentDocuments that govern the control
- User-facing authentication guidance covering selection, protection, reuse and compromise reporting · HR system / LMS
- Security awareness module content on passwords and authentication · HR system / LMS
First move
Common gaps auditors find
- Guidance omits how to report a suspected password compromise
- Policy distributed to employees but not to contractors
- Users interviewed are unaware of the no-reuse instruction
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 sheet8.3.7 No reuse of last four passwords · 8.3.9 Single-factor passwords changed every 90 days or dynamic analysis