NIST Special Publication 800-171 Revision 2
Date Published: January 28th, 2021
Withdrawn on May 14, 2024. Superseded by SP 800-171 Rev. 3
Author(s): Ron Ross (NIST), Victoria Pillitteri (NIST), Kelley Dempsey (NIST), Mark Riddle (NARA), Gary Guissanie (IDA)
Note: A Class Deviation is in effect as of May 2, 2024 (DEVIATION 2024O0013). The deviation clause requires contractors, who are subject to 252.204-7012, to comply with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-171 Revision 2, instead of the version of NIST SP 800-171 in effect at the time the solicitation is issued or as authorized by the contracting officer. Click Here
3.3.5 Correlate audit record review, analysis, and reporting processes for investigation and response to indications of unlawful, unauthorized, suspicious, or unusual activity.
Control Family: Audit and Accountability
Control Type: Derived
SPRS Value: 5
SPRS Supplemental Guidance: N/A
CMMC Level(s): AU.L2-3.3.5
Top Ten Failed Requirement: #8
Referenced in:
DFARS 252.204-7012
Derived From: NIST SP 800-53r4
AU-6(3)
NIST Supplemental Guidance:
N/A
Discussion:
Correlating audit record review, analysis, and reporting processes helps to ensure that they do not operate independently, but rather collectively. Regarding the assessment of a given organizational system, the requirement is agnostic as to whether this correlation is applied at the system level or at the organization level across all systems.
Upon assessment, assessors must determine if-
3.3.5[a] audit record review, analysis, and reporting processes for investigation and
response to indications of unlawful, unauthorized, suspicious, or unusual
activity are defined.
3.3.5[b] defined audit record review, analysis, and reporting processes are correlated.
Assessors are instructed to-
Examine: [SELECT FROM: Audit and accountability policy; procedures addressing audit record review, analysis, and reporting; system security plan; system design documentation; system configuration settings and associated documentation; procedures addressing investigation of and response to suspicious activities; system audit logs and records across different repositories; other relevant documents or records].
Interview: [SELECT FROM: Personnel with audit record review, analysis, and reporting responsibilities; personnel with information security responsibilities].
Test: [SELECT FROM: Mechanisms supporting analysis and correlation of audit records; mechanisms integrating audit review, analysis and reporting].
FURTHER DISCUSSION
Companies must review, analyze, and report audit records to help detect and respond to security incidents in a timely manner for the purpose of investigation and corrective actions. Collection of audit logs into one or more central repositories may facilitate correlated review. 70 NIST SP 800-171A, p. 23. 71 NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2, p. 19. AU.L2-3.3.5 – Audit Correlation CMMC Assessment Guide – Level 2 | Version 2.13 82 Small companies may be able to accomplish this manually with well-defined and -managed procedures. Larger companies will use an automated system for analysis that correlates log data from across the entire enterprise. Some companies may want to orchestrate the analysis process to include the use of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for collection, correlation, and the automation of responses based on programed rulesets.
Example
You are a member of a cyber defense team responsible for audit log analysis. You run an automated tool that analyzes all the audit logs across a Local Area Network (LAN) segment simultaneously looking for similar anomalies on separate systems at separate locations. Some of these systems store CUI. After extracting anomalous information and performing a correlation analysis [b], you determine that four different systems have had their event log information cleared between 2:00 AM to 3:00 AM, although the associated dates are different. The team monitors all systems on the same LAN segment between 2:00 AM to 3:00 AM for the next 30 days.
Potential Assessment Considerations
Are mechanisms used across different repositories to integrate audit review, analysis, correlation, and reporting processes [b]? KEY REFERENCES • NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2 3.3.5