What evidence do auditors commonly ask for on PE-5 Access Control for Output Devices?

Physical and environmental protection policy; Procedures addressing access control for display medium; Facility layout of system components; Actual displays from system components; List of output devices and associated outputs requiring physical access controls; Physical access control logs or records for areas containing output devices and related outputs.

What is the most common gap auditors find on PE-5?

Output from shared printers containing sensitive data is left in open areas where unauthorized people can collect it

NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 · PE - Physical and Environmental Protection

`PE-5` Access Control for Output Devices

Control physical access to output from organization-defined output devices to prevent unauthorized individuals from obtaining the output.

Source: NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5, PE-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 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

List of output devices and associated outputs requiring physical access controls · Physical access / facilities

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

Physical access control logs or records for areas containing output devices and related outputs · Physical access / facilities
Test of Organizational processes for access control to output devices; mechanisms supporting and/or implementing access control to output devices · Physical access / facilities

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

Physical and environmental protection policy · Policy repository / GRC workspace
Procedures addressing access control for display medium · Policy repository / GRC workspace
Facility layout of system components · Policy repository / GRC workspace
Actual displays from system components · Policy repository / GRC workspace
System security plan · Policy repository / GRC workspace

First move

Mostly documents and reviews. Pull the 1 system-held artefact from your Physical access / facilities on a schedule; put the documents under version control with an owner and review date, and log each review as a dated record with a named reviewer.

Common gaps auditors find

Output from shared printers containing sensitive data is left in open areas where unauthorized people can collect it
Output devices requiring physical access control are not defined, and no secure release or restricted placement is used

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

PE-4 Access Control for Transmission · PE-5(2) Access Control for Output Devices | Link to Individual Identity