Title

IBM z/OS system administrator must develop a procedure to notify system administrators (SAs) and information system security officers (ISSOs) of account enabling actions. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

Once an attacker establishes access to a system, the attacker often attempts to create a persistent method of reestablishing access. One way to accomplish this is for the attacker to enable an existing disabled account. Sending notification of account enabling actions to the SA and ISSO is one method for mitigating this risk. Such a capability greatly reduces the risk that operating system accessibility will be negatively affected for extended periods of time and also provides logging that can be used for forensic purposes.

Check Content

Ask the SA for the procedure to notify SAs and ISSOs of account enabling actions. If no procedures are in place, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Develop and document a procedure to notify SAs and ISSOs of account enabling actions.

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-223579r1001132_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-223579

Group Title: SRG-OS-000304-GPOS-00121

Expert Comments

CCIs tied to check.

Controls tied to check. These are derived from the CCIs shown above.