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PCI Compliance Scanning

Purpose

The purpose of this document is to provide users with an overview of the PCI Scanning module for OUTSCAN. This document has been elaborated under the assumption the reader has access to the OUTSCAN Account, and Portal Interface.

Introduction

Outpost24 is a certified Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV) by the PCI Security Standards Council and offers OUTSCAN PCI, an extension of our OUTSCAN vulnerability management tool designed specifically to verify and prove PCI DSS compliance. OUTSCAN PCI examines network perimeters, identifies vulnerabilities and inventories actionable remedies, and can repeatedly scan until all criteria are met to effectively protect the integrity of cardholder data and verify compliance.

To launch the OUTSCAN application, navigate to https://outscan.outpost24.com.

Use HTTPS protocol.
Ex. https://outscan.outpost24.com

OUTSCAN Login

OUTSCAN Login

Log in using your credentials.

To access the PCI Scanning module, navigate to Main Menu > PCI Scanning.

Interface Sections

The PCI Compliance Scanning interface consist of five tabs.

  • Guide

  • Scope

  • Current Activity

  • Reports

  • Scan History

Interface Sections

Guide

The Guide tab is the welcome page for the PCI Scanning and is displayed every time the PCI Compliance module is started. It provides a quick guide on how to set up and run scans.

PCIComp03.PNG

Scope

The Scope tab is used to set up the scope of the scans, the left Scans part is used to create schedules to run. These can either be scheduled to run at a specific time or be started manually.
The Scope tab consists of two sections:

  • Scans

  • Targets

Scope

Scans

The Scans section consists of all defined scan schedules along with information about each schedule.

Option

Description

New

Displays the Maintaining Scan Schedule window where a new scan schedule can be set up.

Delete

Removes a scan schedule from the list.

Scan Now

Start the scan manually.

Disable

Stops the schedule from running a scan.

PCIComp05.png

Edit - To edit a schedule object right-click on it and select Edit.
Grid Window - The grid that shows the scan schedules is configurable. Clicking on the arrow next to the name of any grid column allows you to customize what columns that will be shown out of the following:

Option

Description

Latest Scan Date

The last time the schedule was executed.

Latest Scan Status

The status of the latest schedule execution.

Name

The name of the scan schedule.

Next Scan

The date when the next scan occur, if empty it will not start automatically.

Target

In the Target section, targets can be selected for scanning. For each scan of a target, a compliance report is created.
In the Target Ranges field, you can enter a range of targets to be scanned.
When adding a target range, a discovery scan is performed to find all the alive targets in the range. These are added to the schedule as unconfirmed targets, and need to be confirmed or they should be deleted if they are not part of the PCI scanning scope.
A target can only exist in one PCI scan job.

Option

Description

New

Displays the Add New PCI Target window where new targets can be set up. When adding a domain or a network ranges, OUTSCAN scans for all hosts available automatically. All the found hosts are listed in the Targets section.

The Add New PCI Target window is also displayed by default the first time PCI Scanning is started.

Delete

Removes the hosts that should not be part of the scan.

Confirm

Selects and add found hosts to the scan.

You are required to confirm or delete these targets from the PCI DSS scope. If you have any questions regarding if they should be included in the scope or not, refer to the PCI DSS requirements or your QSA. 

PCIComp06.png



Edit - To edit a target right-click on it and select Edit.
Grid Window - The grid that shows the targets is configurable. Clicking on the arrow next to the name of any grid column allows you to customize what columns will be shown out of the following:

Option

Description

IP Address

The IP address of the target.

Host Name

The targets host name.

Out of Scope

If the target is out of scope.

Confirmed

If the target is confirmed to be part of the PCI scanning scope or not.

Latest Scan Date

The most recent date that a scan was run.

Latest Scan Status

Status of the most recent scan.

Virtual Host Names

A list of virtual host names.

MAC Address

The targets MAC address.

Hidden URLs

A list of hidden URLs for the webapp scanner to crawl. Hidden URLs are URLs that cannot be reached by crawling the default address.

Platform

The platform detected on this target.

Compliance Status

The latest compliance status for this target.

Uses License

If target uses license.

Current Activity

In the Current Activity tab, the progress of the current scans is monitored. The scans can be paused, resumed, and stopped at any time during the scanning process.

Option

Description

Pause

Pause the selected scan.

Resume

Resume the selected scan.

Stop

Stop the selected scan.

PCIComp07.png



Export HTML - To export the currently visible data from the grid, right click on any entry and select Export HTML. This generates an HTML page with data can be saved or copied from.

Grid Window - The grid that shows the status is configurable. Clicking on the arrow next to the name of any grid column allows you to customize what columns that will be shown out of the following:

Option

Description

Scheduled Start

The time the scan was scheduled to start at.

Schedule

The name of the schedule.

Target

The target IP.

Status

The current status.

Progress

The progress of the scan.

Scheduled End

When the scan will be terminated, unless already finished.

Service

The name of the service.

Host name

The name of the host being scanned.

Scanner

The name of the scanner performing the scan.

Reports

The Reports tab shows the results of the completed scans and consists of two parts.

  • Upper part – Listing the completed scans and targets with their results.

  • Lower part – Showing the different findings for each scan and target.

Reports

Upper part

Consists of two fields where you can select the targets from the Scope tab for reporting.

  • Scan Schedule

  • Target

Select Targets for Report

Lower part

Consists of two tabs

  • Findings

  • Overview


Findings tab
The Findings tab shows the specific findings for each target and whether it is compliant or not.

PCIComp10.png



Overview tab
The overview tab provides charts together with the detailed findings. The charts can be exported as a PNG-file by clicking the download icon in the top right corner of the chart field.

PCIComp11.png

Scan History

The Scan History tab shows all the PCI scans performed by the system.

PCIComp12.png



Show Scan Results: If you right click on a scan that ended successfully you have the option to show the report for this scan. This can be done both on individual targets and on complete scan schedules.
Export HTML: To export the currently visible data from the grid, right click on any entry and select Export HTML. This generates an HTML page with data that can be saved or copied from.
Grid Window: The grid that shows the scan history is configurable. Clicking on the arrow next to the name of any grid column allows you to customize what columns that will be shown out of the following:

Option

Description

Scan start date

The time when the scan started.

Scan end date

The time when the scan finished.

Scan status

How the scan ended.

Target

This field can be a target IP, schedule name, or a discovery scan name.

Scan Job

The name of the scan job.

Scan duration

The total scan time for this job.

Cause of error

An additional information field which can show why a scan failed.

Retention Period

According to PCI SSC regulation, the ASV Company must adhere to all requirements to protect sensitive and confidential information.

This information must be available upon request by PCI SSC and its Affiliates for a minimum of three (3) years. For that reason the PCI scan data is not removed before this three year period.

Performing a PCI DSS Scan

For information on how to perform a PCI DSS Scan, see the Performing a PCI DSS Scan article.

Glossary

Abbreviation

Description

ASV

Approved Scanning Vendor

CVE

Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures

CVSS

Common Vulnerability Scoring System

DSS

Data Security Standard

PCI

Payment Card Industry

QSA

Qualified Security Assessor

References

  1. Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard Requirements and Security Assessment Procedures Version 4.0.1 June 2024




Copyright

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Trademark

Outpost24® and OUTSCAN™ are trademarks of Outpost24® and its affiliated companies. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective owners.

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