NIST SP 800-53 PS-4 Personnel Termination | Security Control Explorer

Requirements NIST SOURCE

Upon termination of individual employment:

Discussion (NIST Supplemental Guidance)

System property includes hardware authentication tokens, system administration technical manuals, keys, identification cards, and building passes. Exit interviews ensure that terminated individuals understand the security constraints imposed by being former employees and that proper accountability is achieved for system-related property. Security topics at exit interviews include reminding individuals of nondisclosure agreements and potential limitations on future employment. Exit interviews may not always be possible for some individuals, including in cases related to the unavailability of supervisors, illnesses, or job abandonment. Exit interviews are important for individuals with security clearances. The timely execution of termination actions is essential for individuals who have been terminated for cause. In certain situations, organizations consider disabling the system accounts of individuals who are being terminated prior to the individuals being notified.

Enhancements NIST SOURCE

PS-4(1) Post-employment Requirements LOW MODERATE HIGH

(a) Notify terminated individuals of applicable, legally binding post-employment requirements for the protection of organizational information; and
(b) Require terminated individuals to sign an acknowledgment of post-employment requirements as part of the organizational termination process.

Discussion

Organizations consult with the Office of the General Counsel regarding matters of post-employment requirements on terminated individuals.

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PS-4(2) Automated Actions LOW MODERATE ✓ HIGH

Use [automated mechanisms] to [one of: notify of individual termination actions; disable access to system resources].

Discussion

In organizations with many employees, not all personnel who need to know about termination actions receive the appropriate notifications, or if such notifications are received, they may not occur in a timely manner. Automated mechanisms can be used to send automatic alerts or notifications to organizational personnel or roles when individuals are terminated. Such automatic alerts or notifications can be conveyed in a variety of ways, including via telephone, electronic mail, text message, or websites. Automated mechanisms can also be employed to quickly and thoroughly disable access to system resources after an employee is terminated.

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Implementation Guidance

Engineering Interpretation

Original engineering commentary written for this explorer — not NIST source text and not authoritative guidance.

No engineering interpretation has been authored for PS-4 yet. This section is architected to receive it — see the Requirements and Assessment sections above for the authoritative NIST source content in the meantime.

Assessment

NIST SP 800-53A REV 5.2.0

Assessment Objectives

a time period within which to disable system access is defined;
information security topics to be discussed when conducting exit interviews are defined;
upon termination of individual employment, system access is disabled within <PS-04_ODP[01] time period>;
upon termination of individual employment, any authenticators and credentials are terminated or revoked;
upon termination of individual employment, exit interviews that include a discussion of <PS-04_ODP[02] information security topics> are conducted;
upon termination of individual employment, all security-related organizational system-related property is retrieved;
upon termination of individual employment, access to organizational information and systems formerly controlled by the terminated individual are retained.

Examine

[SELECT FROM: Personnel security policy; procedures addressing personnel termination; records of personnel termination actions; list of system accounts; records of terminated or revoked authenticators/credentials; records of exit interviews; system security plan; other relevant documents or records].

Interview

[SELECT FROM: Organizational personnel with personnel security responsibilities; organizational personnel with account management responsibilities; system/network administrators; organizational personnel with information security responsibilities].

Test

[SELECT FROM: Organizational processes for personnel termination; mechanisms supporting and/or implementing personnel termination notifications; mechanisms for disabling system access/revoking authenticators].

Overlays

OT/ICS Overlay SP 800-82r3

NIST SP 800-82r3 Appendix F, Table 22. Blank baseline means the control/control enhancement is not selected in that initial OT baseline.

LOW

Base control: Included (matches standard baseline)

MODERATE

Base control: Included (matches standard baseline)

HIGH

Base control: Included (matches standard baseline)
Included: (2)

STIGs & CCIs

No STIG checks or CCI mappings are currently loaded for PS-4. This section is architected to display, per product: STIG ID, Finding ID, Severity, Title, Description, Check, Fix, CCI, and NIST control mapping — but nothing is populated here until a real DISA STIG/CCI dataset is ingested.

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Evidence

Potential Evidence — Derived

Categorized from the SP 800-53A "Examine"/"Test" artifact list above by keyword — not an authoritative NIST evidence list.

Policy

Personnel security policy
system security plan

Testing

Organizational processes for personnel termination
mechanisms supporting and/or implementing personnel termination notifications
mechanisms for disabling system access/revoking authenticators

Other Records

procedures addressing personnel termination
records of personnel termination actions
list of system accounts
records of terminated or revoked authenticators/credentials
records of exit interviews
other relevant documents or records