AU-12

AU-12 AUDIT GENERATION

Overview

Number	Title	Impact	Priority	Subject Area
AU-12	Audit Generation	LOW	P1	Audit And Accountability

Instructions
The information system: AU-12a. Provides audit record generation capability for the auditable events defined in AU-2 a. at Assignment: organization-defined information system components; AU-12b. Allows Assignment: organization-defined personnel or roles to select which auditable events are to be audited by specific components of the information system; and AU-12c. Generates audit records for the events defined in AU-2 d. with the content defined in AU-3.

Instructions

The information system:

AU-12a.

Provides audit record generation capability for the auditable events defined in AU-2 a. at Assignment: organization-defined information system components;

AU-12b.

Allows Assignment: organization-defined personnel or roles to select which auditable events are to be audited by specific components of the information system; and

AU-12c.

Generates audit records for the events defined in AU-2 d. with the content defined in AU-3.

Guidance
Audit records can be generated from many different information system components. The list of audited events is the set of events for which audits are to be generated. These events are typically a subset of all events for which the information system is capable of generating audit records.

Enhancements

AU-12 (1) System-Wide / Time-Correlated Audit Trail

HIGH

Audit trails are time-correlated if the time stamps in the individual audit records can be reliably related to the time stamps in other audit records to achieve a time ordering of the records within organizational tolerances.

The information system compiles audit records from Assignment: organization-defined information system components into a system-wide (logical or physical) audit trail that is time-correlated to within Assignment: organization-defined level of tolerance for relationship between time stamps of individual records in the audit trail.

AU-12 (2) Standardized Formats

Audit information that is normalized to common standards promotes interoperability and exchange of such information between dissimilar devices and information systems. This facilitates production of event information that can be more readily analyzed and correlated. Standard formats for audit records include, for example, system log records and audit records compliant with Common Event Expressions (CEE). If logging mechanisms within information systems do not conform to standardized formats, systems may convert individual audit records into standardized formats when compiling system-wide audit trails.

The information system produces a system-wide (logical or physical) audit trail composed of audit records in a standardized format.

AU-12 (3) Changes By Authorized Individuals

HIGH

This control enhancement enables organizations to extend or limit auditing as necessary to meet organizational requirements. Auditing that is limited to conserve information system resources may be extended to address certain threat situations. In addition, auditing may be limited to a specific set of events to facilitate audit reduction, analysis, and reporting. Organizations can establish time thresholds in which audit actions are changed, for example, near real-time, within minutes, or within hours.

The information system provides the capability for Assignment: organization-defined individuals or roles to change the auditing to be performed on Assignment: organization-defined information system components based on Assignment: organization-defined selectable event criteria within Assignment: organization-defined time thresholds.