ISO/IEC27000: User Access Management

Monitoring user privileges across multiple applications and websites within a network can be difficult for any organization to manage effectively. Without proper access management controls in place to monitor and audit user access to internal resources, the risk of unauthorized access to confidential data will increase. This report will provide a comprehensive look at group and user account changes across the enterprise.

The ISO/IEC 27002:2013 provides a framework that can be used to develop and enhance information security policies for any organization. Each security control and objective provided within the standard can be tailored to specific business and regulatory objectives, and assist with maintaining overall compliance. This report aligns with the ISO/IEC 27002 A9 control, which can assist organizations in managing user access permissions, ensure separation of duties, and least privilege access controls.

With the proliferation of cloud and mobile devices, organizations must be able to manage and enforce access to critical resources. Larger organizations can have thousands of user accounts and permissions to manage that can be time-consuming and easily overlooked. Any change in roles or responsibilities can allow for elevated privileges, which can give unauthorized users access to confidential information. Users may also be able to change files, connect unauthorized devices, and install malicious software. Exploiting former employee credentials can allow malicious users to circumvent security controls and gain access to critical systems. Monitoring and enforcing all user access changes is critical to overall network security, as any lapse in user access privilege changes can present significant risks to the organization.

This report will provide an overview of user access changes, administrative events, group changes, and login events. Privileged accounts provide users with access to a wide range of applications, services, and websites. Organizations should monitor administrative events carefully, as unauthorized usage of administrator privileges can pose a serious threat to an organization. Elements in this report provide detailed information on account status and password changes. Analysts will be alerted to group changes across domain and local groups across multiple operating systems. Administrative accounts are monitored to report on any malicious users that may have launched attacks against network systems. In addition, changes from domain and local groups can help to identify malicious users that have targeted specific groups to gain access to critical systems or confidential data. Organizations should monitor all privileged or administrative groups, as attacks are more likely to succeed with administrative privileges.

This report is available in the Tenable.sc Feed, a comprehensive collection of dashboards, reports, Assurance Report Cards, and assets. The report can be easily located in the Tenable.sc Feed under the category Compliance & Configuration Assessment. The report requirements are:

• Tenable.sc 5.3.2
• Nessus 8.5.1
• LCE 6.0.0
• NNM 5.9.1

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The report contains the following chapters:

• Executive Summary: The Executive Summary chapter presents an overview of user and group access changes on the network. Organizations can use the data provided within this report to identify any critical or unauthorized user account changes that can lead to data leakage, malicious attacks, and damage to critical systems. Information in the report will also provide insight on how well access management policies are being implemented. This report aligns with the ISO/IEC 27002 A9 control, which can assist organizations in managing user access permissions, ensure separation of duties, and least privilege access controls.
• Account Changes: This chapter presents information on user account and group changes and events across the network. Any account or password changes can allow unauthorized users access to confidential data on critical systems. Administrative accounts and groups should be monitored regularly, as attacks are more likely to succeed with administrative privileges. Organizations can use this chapter to quickly identify unauthorized users, and strengthen security polices.
• Group Membership Indicators: This chapter includes detailed information on local and domain-based groups on Windows, Linux, Unix, and Mac OS X systems. Each element will include a list of hosts that have detected users within the corresponding group. Each group will have access to specific tasks or permissions based on organizational requirements. Organizations should review the information provided within this chapter to confirm each user has access to the specific roles and rights needed.