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MA-5

MA-5: Maintenance Personnel

The organization:

a: Establishes a process for maintenance personnel authorization and maintains a list of authorized maintenance organizations or personnel;

b: Ensures that non-escorted personnel performing maintenance on the information system have required access authorizations; and

c: Designates organizational personnel with required access authorizations and technical competence to supervise the maintenance activities of personnel who do not possess the required access authorizations.

Supplemental

This control applies to individuals performing hardware or software maintenance on organizational information systems, while PE-2 addresses physical access for individuals whose maintenance duties place them within the physical protection perimeter of the systems (e.g., custodial staff, physical plant maintenance personnel). Technical competence of supervising individuals relates to the maintenance performed on the information systems while having required access authorizations refers to maintenance on and near the systems. Individuals not previously identified as authorized maintenance personnel, such as information technology manufacturers, vendors, systems integrators, and consultants, may require privileged access to organizational information systems, for example, when required to conduct maintenance activities with little or no notice. Based on organizational assessments of risk, organizations may issue temporary credentials to these individuals. Temporary credentials may be for one-time use or for very limited time periods.

CIA Levels
Confidentiality	high
Integrity	high
Availability	high

Overlays
Privacy (High), Privacy (Low), Privacy (Mod), Privacy (PHI)

CSF Categories
PR.MA-1

Related Controls

The controls below (if any) were marked by NIST as being related to MA-5.

Control	Description
AC-2	The organization: a: Identifies and selects the following types of information system accounts to support organizational missions/business functions: [organization-defined information system account types]; b: Assigns account managers for information system accounts; c: Establishes conditions for group and role membership; d: Specifies authorized users of the information system, group and role membership, and access authorizations (i.e., privileges) and other attributes (as required) for each account; e: Requires approvals by [organization-defined personnel or roles] for requests to create information system accounts; f: Creates, enables, modifies, disables, and removes information system accounts in accordance with [organization-defined procedures or conditions]; g: Monitors the use of information system accounts; h: Notifies account managers: 1: When accounts are no longer required; 2: When users are terminated or transferred; and 3: When individual information system usage or need-to-know changes; i: Authorizes access to the information system based on: 1: A valid access authorization; 2: Intended system usage; and 3: Other attributes as required by the organization or associated missions/business functions; j: Reviews accounts for compliance with account management requirements [organization-defined frequency]; and k: Establishes a process for reissuing shared/group account credentials (if deployed) when individuals are removed from the group.
IA-8	The information system uniquely identifies and authenticates non-organizational users (or processes acting on behalf of non-organizational users).
MP-2	The organization restricts access to [organization-defined types of digital and/or non-digital media] to [organization-defined personnel or roles].
PE-2	The organization: a: Develops, approves, and maintains a list of individuals with authorized access to the facility where the information system resides; b: Issues authorization credentials for facility access; c: Reviews the access list detailing authorized facility access by individuals [organization-defined frequency]; and d: Removes individuals from the facility access list when access is no longer required.
PE-3	The organization: a: Enforces physical access authorizations at [organization-defined entry/exit points to the facility where the information system resides] by; 1: Verifying individual access authorizations before granting access to the facility; and 2: Controlling ingress/egress to the facility using [one or more of {{ insert: param, pe-3_prm_3 }} /guards]; b: Maintains physical access audit logs for [organization-defined entry/exit points]; c: Provides [organization-defined security safeguards] to control access to areas within the facility officially designated as publicly accessible; d: Escorts visitors and monitors visitor activity [organization-defined circumstances requiring visitor escorts and monitoring]; e: Secures keys, combinations, and other physical access devices; f: Inventories [organization-defined physical access devices] every [organization-defined frequency]; and g: Changes combinations and keys [organization-defined frequency] and/or when keys are lost, combinations are compromised, or individuals are transferred or terminated.
PE-4	The organization controls physical access to [organization-defined information system distribution and transmission lines] within organizational facilities using [organization-defined security safeguards].
RA-3	The organization: a: Conducts an assessment of risk, including the likelihood and magnitude of harm, from the unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction of the information system and the information it processes, stores, or transmits; b: Documents risk assessment results in []; c: Reviews risk assessment results [organization-defined frequency]; d: Disseminates risk assessment results to [organization-defined personnel or roles]; and e: Updates the risk assessment [organization-defined frequency] or whenever there are significant changes to the information system or environment of operation (including the identification of new threats and vulnerabilities), or other conditions that may impact the security state of the system.

Enhancements

The controls below (if any) add on to the requirements of MA-5.

Control	Description
MA-5(1)	The organization: (a): Implements procedures for the use of maintenance personnel that lack appropriate security clearances or are not U.S. citizens, that include the following requirements: (1): Maintenance personnel who do not have needed access authorizations, clearances, or formal access approvals are escorted and supervised during the performance of maintenance and diagnostic activities on the information system by approved organizational personnel who are fully cleared, have appropriate access authorizations, and are technically qualified; (2): Prior to initiating maintenance or diagnostic activities by personnel who do not have needed access authorizations, clearances or formal access approvals, all volatile information storage components within the information system are sanitized and all nonvolatile storage media are removed or physically disconnected from the system and secured; and (b): Develops and implements alternate security safeguards in the event an information system component cannot be sanitized, removed, or disconnected from the system.
MA-5(2)	The organization ensures that personnel performing maintenance and diagnostic activities on an information system processing, storing, or transmitting classified information possess security clearances and formal access approvals for at least the highest classification level and for all compartments of information on the system.
MA-5(3)	The organization ensures that personnel performing maintenance and diagnostic activities on an information system processing, storing, or transmitting classified information are U.S. citizens.
MA-5(4)	The organization ensures that: (a): Cleared foreign nationals (i.e., foreign nationals with appropriate security clearances), are used to conduct maintenance and diagnostic activities on classified information systems only when the systems are jointly owned and operated by the United States and foreign allied governments, or owned and operated solely by foreign allied governments; and (b): Approvals, consents, and detailed operational conditions regarding the use of foreign nationals to conduct maintenance and diagnostic activities on classified information systems are fully documented within Memoranda of Agreements.
MA-5(5)	The organization ensures that non-escorted personnel performing maintenance activities not directly associated with the information system but in the physical proximity of the system, have required access authorizations.

Related CCIs

The CCIs below are tied to MA-5.

CCI	Definition
CCI-000890	Establish a process for maintenance personnel authorization.
CCI-000891	Maintain a list of authorized maintenance organizations or personnel.
CCI-002894	Verify that non-escorted personnel performing maintenance on the system possess the required access authorizations.
CCI-002895	Designate organizational personnel with required access authorizations and technical competence to supervise the maintenance activities of personnel who do not possess the required access authorizations.