What evidence do auditors commonly ask for on MP-6(2) Media Sanitization | Equipment Testing?

System media protection policy; Procedures addressing media sanitization and disposal; Procedures addressing testing of media sanitization equipment; Results of media sanitization equipment and procedures testing; System audit records; Records retention and disposition policy.

What is the most common gap auditors find on MP-6(2)?

Sanitization equipment such as degaussers and shredders has no test records showing the intended sanitization is achieved

NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 · MP - Media Protection

`MP-6(2)` Media Sanitization | Equipment Testing

Test sanitization equipment and procedures organization-defined frequency to ensure that the intended sanitization is being achieved.

Source: NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5, MP-6(2). 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 NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 in the compliance library.

Base controls and their enhancements. Which apply follows the baseline you are assessed against (for example FedRAMP Moderate or High, or the low, moderate and high baselines of SP 800-53B). Text in square brackets is a parameter your organisation sets.

artefacts

held by a system

at each review

hard

to go live

Policy repository / GRC workspace

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

none for this control

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

Results of media sanitization equipment and procedures testing · Data governance / DLP tooling
System audit records · Data governance / DLP tooling
Test of Organizational processes for media sanitization; automated mechanisms supporting and/or implementing media sanitization; automated mechanisms supporting and/or implementing media sanitization procedures; sanitization equipment · Data governance / DLP tooling

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

System media protection policy · Policy repository / GRC workspace
Procedures addressing media sanitization and disposal · Policy repository / GRC workspace
Procedures addressing testing of media sanitization equipment · Policy repository / GRC workspace
Records retention and disposition policy · Policy repository / GRC workspace
Records retention and disposition procedures · Policy repository / GRC workspace
System security plan · Policy repository / GRC workspace
Privacy plan · Policy repository / GRC workspace

First move

No system holds this evidence for you: it is people and documents. Reminders and routing to the owner still save time. Put the document under version control with an owner and review date, and log each review as a record with reviewer and date.

Common gaps auditors find

Sanitization equipment such as degaussers and shredders has no test records showing the intended sanitization is achieved
The organization-defined frequency for testing sanitization equipment and procedures was never set or is not followed

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

MP-6(1) Media Sanitization | Review, Approve, Track, Document, and Verify · MP-6(3) Media Sanitization | Nondestructive Techniques