MA - Maintenance

  • Controls Count: 5
  • Controls IDs: MA-3, MA-3 (1), MA-3 (2), MA-3 (3), MA-6

Controls

MA-3: Maintenance Tools

Approve, control, and monitor the use of system maintenance tools; and

Review previously approved system maintenance tools frequency at which to review previously approved system maintenance tools is defined;.

Approving, controlling, monitoring, and reviewing maintenance tools address security-related issues associated with maintenance tools that are not within system authorization boundaries and are used specifically for diagnostic and repair actions on organizational systems. Organizations have flexibility in determining roles for the approval of maintenance tools and how that approval is documented. A periodic review of maintenance tools facilitates the withdrawal of approval for outdated, unsupported, irrelevant, or no-longer-used tools. Maintenance tools can include hardware, software, and firmware items and may be pre-installed, brought in with maintenance personnel on media, cloud-based, or downloaded from a website. Such tools can be vehicles for transporting malicious code, either intentionally or unintentionally, into a facility and subsequently into systems. Maintenance tools can include hardware and software diagnostic test equipment and packet sniffers. The hardware and software components that support maintenance and are a part of the system (including the software implementing utilities such as "ping," "ls," "ipconfig," or the hardware and software implementing the monitoring port of an Ethernet switch) are not addressed by maintenance tools.

the use of system maintenance tools is approved;

the use of system maintenance tools is controlled;

the use of system maintenance tools is monitored;

previously approved system maintenance tools are reviewed frequency at which to review previously approved system maintenance tools is defined;.

Maintenance policy

procedures addressing system maintenance tools

system maintenance tools and associated documentation

maintenance records

system security plan

other relevant documents or records

Organizational personnel with system maintenance responsibilities

organizational personnel with information security responsibilities

Organizational processes for approving, controlling, and monitoring maintenance tools

mechanisms supporting and/or implementing the approval, control, and/or monitoring of maintenance tools

MA-3 (1): Inspect Tools

Inspect the maintenance tools used by maintenance personnel for improper or unauthorized modifications.

Maintenance tools can be directly brought into a facility by maintenance personnel or downloaded from a vendor’s website. If, upon inspection of the maintenance tools, organizations determine that the tools have been modified in an improper manner or the tools contain malicious code, the incident is handled consistent with organizational policies and procedures for incident handling.

maintenance tools used by maintenance personnel are inspected for improper or unauthorized modifications.

Maintenance policy

procedures addressing system maintenance tools

system maintenance tools and associated documentation

maintenance tool inspection records

maintenance records

system security plan

other relevant documents or records

Organizational personnel with system maintenance responsibilities

organizational personnel with information security responsibilities

Organizational processes for inspecting maintenance tools

mechanisms supporting and/or implementing the inspection of maintenance tools

MA-3 (2): Inspect Media

Check media containing diagnostic and test programs for malicious code before the media are used in the system.

If, upon inspection of media containing maintenance, diagnostic, and test programs, organizations determine that the media contains malicious code, the incident is handled consistent with organizational incident handling policies and procedures.

media containing diagnostic and test programs are checked for malicious code before the media are used in the system.

Maintenance policy

procedures addressing system maintenance tools

system maintenance tools and associated documentation

maintenance records

system security plan

other relevant documents or records

Organizational personnel with system maintenance responsibilities

organizational personnel with information security responsibilities

Organizational process for inspecting media for malicious code

mechanisms supporting and/or implementing the inspection of media used for maintenance

MA-3 (3): Prevent Unauthorized Removal

Prevent the removal of maintenance equipment containing organizational information by:

Verifying that there is no organizational information contained on the equipment;

Sanitizing or destroying the equipment;

Retaining the equipment within the facility; or

Obtaining an exemption from personnel or roles who can authorize removal of equipment from the facility is/are defined; explicitly authorizing removal of the equipment from the facility.

Organizational information includes all information owned by organizations and any information provided to organizations for which the organizations serve as information stewards.

the removal of maintenance equipment containing organizational information is prevented by verifying that there is no organizational information contained on the equipment; or

the removal of maintenance equipment containing organizational information is prevented by sanitizing or destroying the equipment; or

the removal of maintenance equipment containing organizational information is prevented by retaining the equipment within the facility; or

the removal of maintenance equipment containing organizational information is prevented by obtaining an exemption from personnel or roles who can authorize removal of equipment from the facility is/are defined; explicitly authorizing removal of the equipment from the facility.

Maintenance policy

procedures addressing system maintenance tools

system maintenance tools and associated documentation

maintenance records

equipment sanitization records

media sanitization records

exemptions for equipment removal

system security plan

other relevant documents or records

Organizational personnel with system maintenance responsibilities

organizational personnel with information security responsibilities

organizational personnel responsible for media sanitization

Organizational process for preventing unauthorized removal of information

mechanisms supporting media sanitization or destruction of equipment

mechanisms supporting verification of media sanitization

MA-6: Timely Maintenance

Obtain maintenance support and/or spare parts for system components for which maintenance support and/or spare parts are obtained are defined; within time period within which maintenance support and/or spare parts are to be obtained after a failure are defined; of failure.

Organizations specify the system components that result in increased risk to organizational operations and assets, individuals, other organizations, or the Nation when the functionality provided by those components is not operational. Organizational actions to obtain maintenance support include having appropriate contracts in place.

maintenance support and/or spare parts are obtained for system components for which maintenance support and/or spare parts are obtained are defined; within time period within which maintenance support and/or spare parts are to be obtained after a failure are defined; of failure.

Maintenance policy

procedures addressing system maintenance

service provider contracts

service-level agreements

inventory and availability of spare parts

system security plan

other relevant documents or records

Organizational personnel with system maintenance responsibilities

organizational personnel with acquisition responsibilities

organizational personnel with information security responsibilities

system/network administrators

Organizational processes for ensuring timely maintenance