ISC2 CC Security Operations Practice Question
An organization must comply with PCI DSS log retention requirements. What is the minimum retention period for logs, and how long must they be immediately available for analysis?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
12 months retention, 3 months immediately available
PCI DSS requires logs to be retained for at least 12 months, with the most recent 3 months immediately available for review.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
24 months retention, 12 months immediately available
Why it's wrong here
PCI DSS requires 12 months of retention with the most recent 3 months immediately available for analysis, so 24/12 overstates both figures. It tempts because longer retention appears safer for audits, yet the standard's actual baseline is one year total and three months readily accessible.
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6 months retention, 1 month immediately available
Why it's wrong here
PCI DSS mandates a minimum of 12 months retention, with 3 months immediately available; 6 months and 1 month both fall short. Six months is tempting because it resembles common internal log-retention baselines rather than the standard's actual figures.
- ✓
12 months retention, 3 months immediately available
Why this is correct
PCI DSS requires audit logs retained for at least 12 months, with the most recent 3 months immediately available for analysis. This satisfies the stem's two-part constraint, balancing forensic history against the cost of keeping older logs readily searchable.
- ✗
12 months retention, 6 months immediately available
Why it's wrong here
PCI DSS requires at least 12 months of retention, but only the most recent 3 months must be immediately available for analysis, not 6. Twelve months is tempting because it matches the retention half of the requirement exactly.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Key term
PCI DSS
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is a set of security requirements designed to protect credit card data during storage, processing, and transmission.
Key term
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards
A set of security rules that any company that handles credit card payments must follow to protect cardholder data from theft and fraud.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CC practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CC exam.