Overview
  1. 03.01: Access Control
  2. 03.02: Awareness and Training
  3. 03.03: Audit and Accountability
  4. 03.04: Configuration Management
  5. 03.05: Identification and Authentication
  6. 03.06: Incident Response
  7. 03.07: Maintenance
  8. 03.08: Media Protection
  9. 03.09: Personnel Security
  10. 03.10: Physical Protection
  11. 03.11: Risk Assessment
  12. 03.12: Security Assessment and Monitoring
  13. 03.13: System and Communications Protection
  14. 03.14: System and Information Integrity
  15. 03.15: Planning
  16. 03.16: System and Services Acquisition
  17. 03.17: Supply Chain Risk Management

Security Requirements for 03.03.01 Event Logging

An event is any observable occurrence in a system, including unlawful or unauthorized system activity. Organizations identify event types for which a logging functionality is needed. This includes events that are relevant to the security of systems and the environments in which those systems operate to meet specific and ongoing auditing needs. Event types can include password changes, the execution of privileged functions, failed logons or accesses related to systems, administrative privilege usage, or third-party credential usage. In determining event types that require logging, organizations consider the system monitoring and auditing that are appropriate for each of the security requirements. When defining event types, organizations consider the logging necessary to cover related events, such as the steps in distributed, transaction-based processes (e.g., processes that are distributed across multiple organizations) and actions that occur in service-oriented or cloud-based architectures. Monitoring and auditing requirements can be balanced with other system needs. For example, organizations may determine that systems must have the capability to log every file access — both successful and unsuccessful — but only activate that capability under specific circumstances due to the potential burden on system performance. The event types that are logged by organizations may change over time. Reviewing and updating the set of logged event types are necessary to ensure that the current set of event types remains relevant.

Evidence

  1. 03.03.01.a

    Specify the following event types selected for logging within the system: at a minimum and where applicable: 1) Authentication events: a) Logons (Success/Failure) b) Logoffs (Success) 2) Security Relevant File and Objects events: a) Create (Success/Failure) b) Access (Success/Failure) c) Delete (Success/Failure) d) Modify (Success/Failure) e) Permission Modification (Success/Failure) f) Ownership Modification (Success/Failure) 3) Export/Writes/downloads to devices/digital media (e.g., CD/DVD, USB, SD) (Success/Failure) 4) Import/Uploads from devices/digital media (e.g., CD/DVD, USB, SD) (Success/Failure) 5) User and Group Management events: a) User add, delete, modify, disable, lock (Success/Failure) b) Group/Role add, delete, modify (Success/Failure) 6) Use of Privileged/Special Rights events: a) Security or audit policy changes (Success/Failure) b) Configuration changes (Success/Failure) 7) Admin or root-level access (Success/Failure) 8) Privilege/Role escalation (Success/Failure) 9) Audit and security relevant log data accesses (Success/Failure) 10) System reboot, restart, and shutdown (Success/Failure) 11) Print to a device (Success/Failure) 12) Print to a file (e.g., pdf format) (Success/Failure) 13) Application (e.g., Adobe, Firefox, MS Office Suite) initialization (Success/Failure) For additional guidance, see: OMB M-21-31 ML 1.

  1. 03.03.01.b

    Review and update the event types selected for logging at least every 12 months and after any significant incidents or significant changes to risks.