What evidence do auditors commonly ask for on 14.4 Train Workforce on Data Handling Best Practices?

Data handling training module covering classification and secure disposal; Clear desk and screen guidance; Completion records and spot-check results.

What is the most common gap auditors find on 14.4?

Clear desk not checked in practice

CIS Controls v8.1 · CIS Control 14: Security Awareness and Skills Training

`14.4` Train Workforce on Data Handling Best Practices

Train staff to recognise sensitive data and to store, move, archive and destroy it properly, including clear screen and clear desk habits such as locking the screen on leaving the device, wiping physical and virtual whiteboards after meetings, and keeping data and assets secure. Implementation Groups: IG1, IG2 and IG3 (part of the IG1 essential cyber hygiene baseline, so every enterprise applies it). Asset type: Users. Security function: Protect.

Source: CIS Controls v8.1, 14.4. The statement above is our statement of the clause, read from the published text and cited so you can check it against the official text, not the instrument verbatim. Open CIS Controls v8.1 in the compliance library.

Scope: Implementation Groups: IG1, IG2, IG3. Security function: Protect; asset type: Users.

Each safeguard shows its Implementation Groups. IG1 is the essential baseline for every enterprise, IG2 adds to it, IG3 is all 153. Version 8.1 adds the Govern security function and asks for more processes to be documented; numbering is unchanged from v8.

artefacts

held by a system

at each review

moderate

to go live

HR system / LMS

where the evidence lives

teal = a system already holds it · olive = produced at each review. To go live: easy when half or more of the artefacts are already held by a system, moderate from a quarter to a half, hard below a quarter.

These are the artefacts auditors commonly ask for on this requirement, our guidance rather than text from the standard. Your assessor decides what is sufficient in your context, and asks for samples across the period when a report covers one.

system holds itEvidence a system already holds

Completion records and spot-check results · HR system / LMS

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

none for this control

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

Data handling training module covering classification and secure disposal · HR system / LMS
Clear desk and screen guidance · Policy repository / GRC workspace

First move

Start with the 1 of 3 artefacts that already live in a system (HR system / LMS); keep the periodic reviews but log each one as a dated record with a named reviewer.

Common gaps auditors find

Clear desk not checked in practice
Training not linked to the classification scheme
Remote workers not covered

Do this for your whole sheet

Paste the rows you run your controls from and get this mapping for every control at once, with the periodic-review ones flagged and a first move per row. No account for the first run.

Build my evidence sheet

14.3 Train Workforce Members on Authentication Best Practices · 14.5 Train Workforce Members on Causes of Unintentional Data Exposure