A3.3 PCI DSS is incorporated into business-as-usual (BAU) activities.
This requirement focuses on incorporating PCI DSS into business-as-usual (BAU) activities. It ensures that organizations maintain ongoing compliance with PCI DSS requirements through regular monitoring, reviews, and updates to their security controls and processes.
Sub-requirements
- A3.3.1 : Failures of critical security control systems are detected, alerted, and addressed promptly.
- A3.3.1.1 : Failures of any critical security control systems are responded to promptly.
- A3.3.2 : Hardware and software technologies are reviewed at least once every 12 months.
- A3.3.3 : Reviews are performed at least once every three months to verify BAU activities are being followed.
A3.3. PCI DSS Integration into BAU Activities
Ensure PCI DSS controls are maintained through business-as-usual processes rather than periodic compliance efforts.
Key Risks
Frequently Asked Questions
How to demonstrate PCI controls are part of daily operations?
Required evidence includes: 1) Integrated change tickets showing security reviews, 2) Deployment pipelines with embedded ASV checks, 3) Monthly KPI dashboards tracking control effectiveness.
What tools support PCI BAU integration?
Essential platforms: 1) Jira Service Management for change control, 2) Splunk for continuous monitoring, 3) ServiceNow GRC for policy adherence tracking. Must show 90-day historical data.
How often must BAU integration be validated?
**Monthly** control sampling + **quarterly** comprehensive reviews. Use automated tools like Terraform Enterprise for infrastructure-as-code validation.
What metrics prove sustainable compliance?
Track: 1) Mean time to patch critical vulnerabilities, 2) % of changes with security review, 3) False positive rates in IDS. Benchmarks must align with PCI SIG metrics.
How to handle temporary control exceptions?
Maintain: 1) Risk-accepted tickets with CISO approval, 2) Compensating controls documentation, 3) Automatic expiration alerts in ServiceNow. Maximum exception duration: 90 days.
Common QSA Questions
Show change tickets with embedded PCI reviews from last month?
ServiceNow records (04/2025) show 100% of 327 changes had: 1) Peer reviews, 2) Vulnerability scans, 3) Rollback plans. Evidence includes signed CAB minutes and GitLab CI/CD logs.
Demonstrate automated policy enforcement in SDLC?
Jenkins pipelines enforce: 1) SCA scans via Checkmarx, 2) Infrastructure hardening checks, 3) Cryptographic module validation. Failed builds require security override.
Provide evidence of operational KPIs tracking?
Power BI dashboard shows: 1) 98.7% patching SLA compliance, 2) 2.1hr mean detection time, 3) 0.3% false positive rate. Data feeds from Qualys and Darktrace.
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