Auditing and the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard

Here is a link to an interesting blog article interpreting the audit requirement of the PCI standard.

For reference, here is a link (pdf) to the PCI 1.1 Data Security Standard itself.

The high-level PCI requirements are listed below. Requirement 10 is the requirement pertaining to audit.

Build and Maintain a Secure Network

· Requirement 1: Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect data

· Requirement 2: Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters

Protect Cardholder Data

· Requirement 3: Protect stored data

· Requirement 4: Encrypt transmission of cardholder data and sensitive information across public networks

Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program

· Requirement 5: Use and regularly update anti-virus software

· Requirement 6: Develop and maintain secure systems and applications

Implement Strong Access Control Measures

· Requirement 7: Restrict access to data by business need-to-know

· Requirement 8: Assign a unique ID to each person with computer access

· Requirement 9: Restrict physical access to cardholder data

Regularly Monitor and Test Networks

· Requirement 10: Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data

· Requirement 11: Regularly test security systems and processes.

Maintain an Information Security Policy

· Requirement 12: Maintain a policy that addresses information security

UPDATE 2006/09/13: Linked to PCI standard v1.1. Thanks Mike for the heads up!

Comments

• Anonymous
  September 13, 2006
  The important and often missed thing  about PCI is that logs are useful in many more areas than just a Req #10. If you read the PCI standard doc carefully, you'd discover a lot more places where logs have to be used, such as change audit, etc