What evidence do auditors commonly ask for on 3.14 Log Sensitive Data Access?

Audit settings for sensitive file shares and databases capturing read, modify and delete; Sample access log entries for sensitive data; Retention of these logs in the central log platform.

What is the most common gap auditors find on 3.14?

Only failed access attempts logged

CIS Controls v8.1 · CIS Control 3: Data Protection

`3.14` Log Sensitive Data Access

Record access to sensitive data, including when it is changed or disposed of. Implementation Group: IG3 only (for enterprises facing sophisticated attackers or holding highly sensitive data). Asset type: Data. Security function: Detect.

Source: CIS Controls v8.1, 3.14. 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: IG3. Security function: Detect; asset type: Data.

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

easy

to go live

SIEM / log platform

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

Audit settings for sensitive file shares and databases capturing read, modify and delete · SIEM / log platform
Sample access log entries for sensitive data · Identity provider / directory
Retention of these logs in the central log platform · SIEM / log platform

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

none for this control

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

none for this control

First move

Automate the pull from your SIEM / log platform. Retention and alert rules exported from the SIEM; review evidence is the closed-alert record with reviewer and time.

Common gaps auditors find

Only failed access attempts logged
Deletion events not captured
Logs collected but never reviewed

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

3.13 Deploy a Data Loss Prevention Solution · 4.1 Establish and Maintain a Secure Configuration Process