SC-7(4) Boundary Protection | External Telecommunications Services
(a) Implement a managed interface for each external telecommunication service; (b) Establish a traffic flow policy for each managed interface; (c) Protect the confidentiality and integrity of the information being transmitted across each interface; (d) Document each exception to the traffic flow policy with a supporting mission or business need and duration of that need; (e) Review exceptions to the traffic flow policy organization-defined frequency and remove exceptions that are no longer supported by an explicit mission or business need; (f) Prevent unauthorized exchange of control plane traffic with external networks; (g) Publish information to enable remote networks to detect unauthorized control plane traffic from internal networks; and (h) Filter unauthorized control plane traffic from external networks.
Source: NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5, SC-7(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 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.
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
- Test of Organizational processes for documenting and reviewing exceptions to the traffic flow policy; organizational processes for removing exceptions to the traffic flow policy; mechanisms implementing boundary protection capabilities; managed interfaces implementing traffic flow policy · Policy repository / GRC workspace
governing documentDocuments that govern the control
- System and communications protection policy · Policy repository / GRC workspace
- Traffic flow policy · Policy repository / GRC workspace
- Information flow control policy · Policy repository / GRC workspace
- Procedures addressing boundary protection · Policy repository / GRC workspace
- System security architecture · Policy repository / GRC workspace
- System design documentation · Document repository
- Boundary protection hardware and software · Document repository
- System architecture and configuration documentation · Policy repository / GRC workspace
- System configuration settings and associated documentation · Policy repository / GRC workspace
First move
Common gaps auditors find
- External telecommunication services lack a managed interface with a documented traffic flow policy for each
- Traffic flow policy exceptions are not documented with mission need and duration or reviewed for removal
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 sheetSC-7(3) Boundary Protection | Access Points · SC-7(5) Boundary Protection | Deny by Default: Allow by Exception