Information Fragmentation
LOW MODERATE HIGHRequirements NIST SOURCE
Based on [circumstances]:
Requirement Context
This element is part of SI-23 — Information Fragmentation. See the Assessment section below for the related SP 800-53A examine/interview/test procedures. No engineering interpretation has been authored for this control yet.
Requirement Context
This element is part of SI-23 — Information Fragmentation. See the Assessment section below for the related SP 800-53A examine/interview/test procedures. No engineering interpretation has been authored for this control yet.
Discussion (NIST Supplemental Guidance)
One objective of the advanced persistent threat is to exfiltrate valuable information. Once exfiltrated, there is generally no way for the organization to recover the lost information. Therefore, organizations may consider dividing the information into disparate elements and distributing those elements across multiple systems or system components and locations. Such actions will increase the adversary’s work factor to capture and exfiltrate the desired information and, in so doing, increase the probability of detection. The fragmentation of information impacts the organization’s ability to access the information in a timely manner. The extent of the fragmentation is dictated by the impact or classification level (and value) of the information, threat intelligence information received, and whether data tainting is used (i.e., data tainting-derived information about the exfiltration of some information could result in the fragmentation of the remaining information).
Implementation Guidance
Original engineering commentary written for this explorer — not NIST source text and not authoritative guidance.
No engineering interpretation has been authored for SI-23 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
Assessment Objectives
- circumstances that require information fragmentation are defined;
- the information to be fragmented is defined;
- systems or system components across which the fragmented information is to be distributed are defined;
- under <SI-23_ODP[01] circumstances>, <SI-23_ODP[02] information> is fragmented;
- under <SI-23_ODP[01] circumstances> , the fragmented information is distributed across <SI-23_ODP[03] systems or system components>.
Examine
[SELECT FROM: System and information integrity policy; system and information integrity procedures; personally identifiable information processing policy; procedures addressing software and information integrity; system design documentation; system configuration settings and associated documentation; procedures to identify information for fragmentation and distribution across systems/system components; list of distributed and fragmented information; list of circumstances requiring information fragmentation; enterprise architecture; system security architecture; system security plan; privacy plan; other relevant documents or records].
Interview
[SELECT FROM: Organizational personnel with information security and privacy responsibilities; organizational personnel with systems security engineering responsibilities; system developers; security architects].
Test
[SELECT FROM: Organizational processes to identify information for fragmentation and distribution across systems/system components; automated mechanisms supporting and/or implementing information fragmentation and distribution across systems/system components].
STIGs & CCIs
No STIG checks or CCI mappings are currently loaded for SI-23. 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.
Learn more about STIG/CCI integration →Evidence
Categorized from the SP 800-53A "Examine"/"Test" artifact list above by keyword — not an authoritative NIST evidence list.
Policy
- System and information integrity policy
- personally identifiable information processing policy
- system security plan
- privacy plan
Configuration
- system design documentation
- system configuration settings and associated documentation
- enterprise architecture
- system security architecture
Testing
- Organizational processes to identify information for fragmentation and distribution across systems/system components
- automated mechanisms supporting and/or implementing information fragmentation and distribution across systems/system components
Other Records
- system and information integrity procedures
- procedures addressing software and information integrity
- procedures to identify information for fragmentation and distribution across systems/system components
- list of distributed and fragmented information
- list of circumstances requiring information fragmentation
- other relevant documents or records