EvidenceSheet
PCI DSS v4.0.1 · Req 9: Restrict Physical Access

9.4.3 Securing media sent outside the facility

Media with cardholder data that is sent outside the facility must be protected as follows: each shipment of media is logged; media travels by secured courier or by another delivery method whose progress can be tracked accurately; and off-site tracking logs record details of where the media is. The guidance explains that a trackable courier lets the organization keep an inventory and location of shipments, whereas ordinary post cannot be tracked. Applicability: all entities that send media off site. Customized approach objective: while in transit beyond the facility, media stays protected and traceable.

Source: PCI DSS v4.0.1, 9.4.3. 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.

5
artefacts
2
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

  • Outbound media log listing each shipment · SIEM / log platform
  • Off-site tracking logs showing media location details · SIEM / log platform

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

  • Sample reconciliation of shipped media against courier tracking · Data governance / DLP tooling

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

  • Media transport procedure · Policy repository / GRC workspace
  • Secured courier contract and tracking numbers or receipts · Vendor register / contract repository

First move

Start with the 2 of 5 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.

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9.4.2 Classification of media by data sensitivity · 9.4.4 Management approval for media leaving facility