Organizational Control: Account Management

Control ID: AC-2 Account Management Family: Access Control Source: NIST 800-53r4
Control: The organization:
  1. Identifies and selects the following types of information system accounts to support organizational missions/business functions: [Assignment: organization-defined information system account types];
  2. Assigns account managers for information system accounts;
  3. Establishes conditions for group and role membership;
  4. Specifies authorized users of the information system, group and role membership, and access authorizations (i.e.,
  5. privileges) and other attributes (as required) for each account;
  6. Requires approvals by [Assignment: organization-defined personnel or roles] for requests to create information system accounts;
  7. Creates, enables, modifies, disables, and removes information system accounts in accordance with [Assignment: organization-defined procedures or conditions];
  8. Monitors the use of information system accounts;
  9. 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;
  10. 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;
  11. Reviews accounts for compliance with account management requirements [Assignment: organization-defined frequency]; and
  12. Establishes a process for reissuing shared/group account credentials (if deployed) when individuals are removed from the group.
Supplemental Guidance:
Information system account types include, for example, individual, shared, group, system, guest/anonymous, emergency, developer/manufacturer/vendor, temporary, and service. Some of the account management requirements listed above can be implemented by organizational information systems. The identification of authorized users of the information system and the specification of access privileges reflects the requirements in other security controls in the security plan. Users requiring administrative privileges on information system accounts receive additional scrutiny by appropriate organizational personnel (e.g., system owner, mission/business owner, or chief information security officer) responsible for approving such accounts and privileged access. Organizations may choose to define access privileges or other attributes by account, by type of account, or a combination of both. Other attributes required for authorizing access include, for example, restrictions on time-of-day, day-of-week, and point-of-origin. In defining other account attributes, organizations consider system-related requirements (e.g., scheduled maintenance, system upgrades) and mission/business requirements, (e.g., time zone differences, customer requirements, remote access to support travel requirements). Failure to consider these factors could affect information system availability. Temporary and emergency accounts are accounts intended for short-term use. Organizations establish temporary accounts as a part of normal account activation procedures when there is a need for short-term accounts without the demand for immediacy in account activation. Organizations establish emergency accounts in response to crisis situations and with the need for rapid account activation. Therefore, emergency account activation may bypass normal account authorization processes. Emergency and temporary accounts are not to be confused with infrequently used accounts (e.g., local logon accounts used for special tasks defined by organizations or when network resources are unavailable). Such accounts remain available and are not subject to automatic disabling or removal dates. Conditions for disabling or deactivating accounts include, for example: (i) when shared/group, emergency, or temporary accounts are no longer required; or (ii) when individuals are transferred or terminated. Some types of information system accounts may require specialized training.

Related Controls: AC-3, AC-4, AC-5, AC-6, AC-10, AC-17, AC-19, AC-20, CM-5, CM-6, CM-11, IA-2, IA-4, IA-5, MA-3, MA-4, MA-5, PL-4, AU-9, IA-8, SC-13
Control Enhancements:
(1) Account Management | Automated System Account Management
The organization employs automated mechanisms to support the management of information system accounts.
Supplemental Guidance: The use of automated mechanisms can include, for example: using email or text messaging to automatically notify account managers when users are terminated or transferred; using the information system to monitor account usage; and using telephonic notification to report atypical system account usage.
Related Controls: N/A

(2) Account Management | Removal Of Temporary / Emergency Accounts
The information system automatically [Selection: removes; disables] temporary and emergency accounts after [Assignment: organization-defined time period for each type of account].
Supplemental Guidance: This control enhancement requires the removal of both temporary and emergency accounts automatically after a predefined period of time has elapsed, rather than at the convenience of the systems administrator.
Related Controls: N/A

(3) Account Management | Disable Inactive Accounts
The information system automatically disables inactive accounts after [Assignment: organization-defined time period].
Supplemental Guidance:
Related Controls: N/A

(5) Account Management | Inactivity Logout
The organization requires that users log out when [Assignment: organization-defined time-period of expected inactivity or description of when to log out].
Supplemental Guidance:
Related Controls: SC-23

(6) Account Management | Usage Conditions
The information system enforces [Assignment: organization-defined circumstances and/or usage conditions] for [Assignment: organization-defined information system accounts].
Supplemental Guidance: Organizations can describe the specific conditions or circumstances under which information system accounts can be used, for example, by restricting usage to certain days of the week, time of day, or specific durations of time.
Related Controls: N/A

(12) Account Management | Disable Accounts For High-risk Individuals
The organization disables accounts of users posing a significant risk within [Assignment: organization-defined time period] of discovery of the risk.
Supplemental Guidance: Users posing a significant risk to organizations include individuals for whom reliable evidence or intelligence indicates either the intention to use authorized access to information systems to cause harm or through whom adversaries will cause harm. Harm includes potential adverse impacts to organizational operations and assets, individuals, other organizations, or the Nation. Close coordination between authorizing officials, information system administrators, and human resource managers is essential in order for timely execution of this control enhancement.
Related Controls: PS-4

(4) Account Management | Automated Audit Actions
The information system automatically audits account creation, modification, enabling, disabling, and removal actions, and notifies [Assignment: organization-defined personnel or roles].
Supplemental Guidance:
Related Controls: AU-2, AU-12
References: N/A
Mechanisms:

Protocol Implementation Conformance Statements: N/A