SI – System And Information Integrity

The RMF Control Family SI, System and Information Integrity, addresses the need for organizations to protect the integrity of their information systems and data. This includes preventing unauthorized changes to systems and data, and detecting and responding to unauthorized changes.

Why is the SI Control Family Important?

The SI Control Family is important because it helps organizations to:

  • Protect the integrity of their information systems and data.
  • Maintain the accuracy, completeness, and reliability of their information.
  • Comply with applicable laws and regulations.

Key Controls in the SI Security Control Family

The following are some of the key controls in the SI Security Control Family:

  • SI-1: Policy and Procedures: This control requires organizations to develop and implement a system and information integrity policy and procedures.
  • SI-2: Flaw Remediation: This control requires organizations to remediate flaws in their information systems and data in a timely manner.
  • SI-3: Malicious Code Protection: This control requires organizations to protect their information systems and data from malicious code.
  • SI-4: System Monitoring: This control requires organizations to monitor their information systems for unauthorized activity.
  • SI-5: Security Alerts, Advisories, and Directives: This control requires organizations to subscribe to and implement security alerts, advisories, and directives from relevant authorities.
  • SI-6: Security and Privacy Function Verification: This control requires organizations to verify the functionality of their security and privacy functions.
  • SI-7: Software, Firmware, and Information Integrity: This control requires organizations to protect the integrity of their software, firmware, and information.
  • SI-8: Spam Protection: This control requires organizations to protect their information systems from spam.
  • SI-10: Information Input Validation: This control requires organizations to validate information before it is entered into their information systems.
  • SI-11: Error Handling: This control requires organizations to handle errors in their information systems in a secure manner.
  • SI-12: Information Management and Retention: This control requires organizations to manage and retain information in a secure manner.
  • SI-13: Predictable Failure Prevention: This control requires organizations to take steps to prevent predictable failures of their information systems.
  • SI-14: Non-Persistence: This control requires organizations to prevent sensitive information from being stored in non-persistent memory.
  • SI-15: Information Output Filtering: This control requires organizations to filter information output from their information systems to prevent the disclosure of sensitive information.
  • SI-16: Memory Protection: This control requires organizations to protect the memory of their information systems from unauthorized access and modification.

By implementing the SI Control Family, organizations can help to protect the integrity of their information systems and data from a wide range of threats.

Tips for Implementing the SI Control Family

Here are some tips for implementing the SI Control Family:

  • Start by developing a system and information integrity policy and procedures. This policy should define the roles and responsibilities for system and information integrity, and the process for protecting the integrity of information systems and data.
  • Conduct a risk assessment to identify and assess the risks to the integrity of your information systems and data. Once you have identified the risks, you can select and implement appropriate security controls to mitigate those risks.
  • Implement security controls to protect the integrity of your information systems and data from a wide range of threats, including malware, cyberattacks, and insider threats.
  • Monitor your information systems for unauthorized activity. This will help you to detect unauthorized changes to systems and data early and to take steps to respond to those changes.
  • Test your security controls on a regular basis to ensure that they are effective.
  • Update your security controls as needed to address new threats and vulnerabilities.