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Withdrawn on May 14, 2024. Superseded by SP 800-171 Rev. 3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
3.3.6 Provide audit record reduction and report generation to support on-demand analysis and reporting.
Control Family: Audit and Accountability
Control Type: Derived
SPRS Value: 1
SPRS Supplemental Guidance: N/A
CMMC Level(s): AU.L2-3.3.6
Top Ten Failed Requirement: No
Referenced in:
DFARS 252.204-7012
Derived From: NIST SP 800-53r4
AU-7
NIST Supplemental Guidance:
N/A
Discussion:
Audit record reduction is a process that manipulates collected audit information and organizes such information in a summary format that is more meaningful to analysts. Audit record reduction and report generation capabilities do not always emanate from the same system or organizational entities conducting auditing activities. Audit record reduction capability can include, for example, modern data mining techniques with advanced data filters to identify anomalous behavior in audit records. The report generation capability provided by the system can help generate customizable reports. Time ordering of audit records can be a significant issue if the granularity of the time stamp in the record is insufficient.
Upon assessment, assessors must determine if-
3.3.6[a] an audit record reduction capability that supports on-demand analysis is
provided.
3.3.6[b] a report generation capability that supports on-demand reporting is provided.
Assessors are instructed to-
Examine: [SELECT FROM: Audit and accountability policy; procedures addressing time stamp generation; system design documentation; system security plan; system configuration settings and associated documentation; system audit logs and records; other relevant documents or records].
Interview: [SELECT FROM: Personnel with audit record reduction and report generation responsibilities; personnel with information security responsibilities].
Test: [SELECT FROM: Audit record reduction and report generation capability].
FURTHER DISCUSSION
Raw audit log data is difficult to review, analyze, and report because of the volume of data. Audit record reduction is an automated process that interprets raw audit log data and extracts meaningful and relevant information without altering the original logs. An example of log reduction for files to be analyzed would be the removal of details associated with nightly backups. Report generation on reduced log information allows you to create succinct customized reports without the need to burden the reader with unimportant information. In addition, the security-relevant audit information must be made available to personnel on demand for immediate review, analysis, reporting, and event investigation support. Performing audit log reduction and providing on-demand reports may allow the analyst to take mitigating action before an adversary completes its malicious actions.
Example
You are in charge of IT operations in a company that processes CUI. You are responsible for providing audit record reduction and report generation capability. To support this function, you deploy an open-source solution that will collect and analyze data for signs of anomalies. The solution queries your central log repository to extract relevant data and provide you with a concise and comprehensive view for further analysis to identify potentially malicious activity [a]. In addition to creating on-demand data sets for analysis, you create customized reports explaining the contents of the data set [b].
Potential Assessment Considerations
Does the system support on-demand audit review, analysis, and reporting requirements and after-the-fact security investigations [b]?