3.5 Securely Dispose of Data
Dispose of data securely as the documented data management process directs, choosing disposal methods proportionate to how sensitive the data is. Implementation Groups: IG1, IG2 and IG3 (part of the IG1 essential cyber hygiene baseline, so every enterprise applies it). Asset type: Data. Security function: Protect.
Source: CIS Controls v8.1, 3.5. 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.
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.
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
- Disposal log entries for decommissioned media and systems · SIEM / log platform
periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review
- Certificates of destruction from disposal vendors · Vendor register / contract repository
governing documentDocuments that govern the control
- Disposal procedure mapping sensitivity levels to methods (crypto-erase, overwrite, physical destruction) · Policy repository / GRC workspace
First move
Common gaps auditors find
- Same deletion method used regardless of sensitivity
- No certificates retained for outsourced destruction
- Cloud data deletion not verified
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 sheet3.4 Enforce Data Retention · 3.6 Encrypt Data on End-User Devices