Which PCI DSS standard is focused on maintaining a vulnerability management program?

Which PCI DSS standard is focused on maintaining a vulnerability management program?

• A. Standard 2 Protect Cardholder Data
• B. Standard 3 Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program
• C. Standard 4 Implement Strong Access Control Measures
• D. Standard 6 Maintain an Information Security Policy

Answer: (B)

Maintaining a vulnerability management program means having an ongoing, formal process to identify, evaluate, and remediate security weaknesses across systems and networks. This standard requires that you establish and operate a program to regularly scan for vulnerabilities, prioritize findings by risk, and apply patches or mitigations in a timely manner. The goal is to reduce exposure to known flaws and ensure remediation is tracked and validated, keeping systems secure as new vulnerabilities emerge. This is why it’s the best answer: it directly targets the continuous process of discovering and fixing weaknesses, rather than broader data protection, access control, or policy governance. The other standards cover different security domains—protecting cardholder data, implementing strict access controls, and maintaining an overall information security policy—but they are not focused on the ongoing vulnerability management process itself.

Maintaining a vulnerability management program means having an ongoing, formal process to identify, evaluate, and remediate security weaknesses across systems and networks. This standard requires that you establish and operate a program to regularly scan for vulnerabilities, prioritize findings by risk, and apply patches or mitigations in a timely manner. The goal is to reduce exposure to known flaws and ensure remediation is tracked and validated, keeping systems secure as new vulnerabilities emerge.

This is why it’s the best answer: it directly targets the continuous process of discovering and fixing weaknesses, rather than broader data protection, access control, or policy governance. The other standards cover different security domains—protecting cardholder data, implementing strict access controls, and maintaining an overall information security policy—but they are not focused on the ongoing vulnerability management process itself.