Requirement 10.2 mandates:

Requirement 10.2 mandates:

• A. Audit trails are optional.
• B. Automated audit trails for all system components.
• C. Manual audit trails are sufficient.
• D. Audit trails only for network equipment.

Answer: (B)

Requirement 10.2 focuses on having automated audit trails for all system components to ensure complete visibility into activity across the entire environment. Automated logs provide consistent, tamper-resistant records of events such as user logins, access attempts, privilege changes, and configuration modifications. This consistency is crucial because manual logging is prone to human error, delays, and gaps, which can leave investigators with incomplete information during an incident. By automating the collection of events across every component, organizations can reliably reconstruct what happened, when it happened, and who was involved, which supports timely detection, response, and forensic analysis. Limiting logging to manual processes or to only certain parts of the network would miss critical activities and undermine the ability to monitor the full cardholder data environment.

Requirement 10.2 focuses on having automated audit trails for all system components to ensure complete visibility into activity across the entire environment. Automated logs provide consistent, tamper-resistant records of events such as user logins, access attempts, privilege changes, and configuration modifications. This consistency is crucial because manual logging is prone to human error, delays, and gaps, which can leave investigators with incomplete information during an incident. By automating the collection of events across every component, organizations can reliably reconstruct what happened, when it happened, and who was involved, which supports timely detection, response, and forensic analysis. Limiting logging to manual processes or to only certain parts of the network would miss critical activities and undermine the ability to monitor the full cardholder data environment.