Local volumes are not formatted using NTFS.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-1081	2.008	SV-25005r1_rule	ECCD-1 ECCD-2	High

Description
This is a Category 1 finding because the ability to set access permissions and audit critical directories and files is only available by using NTFS. The capability to assign access permissions to file objects is a DoD policy requirement. The FAT file system only provides the capability to make files read-only and hidden. The capability to change these attributes is not restricted to any users. An unauthorized individual could boot the machine from a floppy disk and gain full and unrecorded access to file data.

Description

This is a Category 1 finding because the ability to set access permissions and audit critical directories and files is only available by using NTFS. The capability to assign access permissions to file objects is a DoD policy requirement. The FAT file system only provides the capability to make files read-only and hidden. The capability to change these attributes is not restricted to any users. An unauthorized individual could boot the machine from a floppy disk and gain full and unrecorded access to file data.

STIG	Date
Windows 7 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2013-07-03

Details

Check Text ( C-26688r1_chk )
Open the Computer Management Console. Expand the “Storage” object in the Tree window. Select the “Disk Management” object. If the file system column does not indicate “NTFS” as the file system for each local hard drive, then this is a finding. Documentable: Yes Documentable Explanation: Some hardware vendors create a small FAT partition to store troubleshooting and recovery data. No other files should be stored here. This requirement should be documented with the IAO.

Check Text ( C-26688r1_chk )

Open the Computer Management Console.
Expand the “Storage” object in the Tree window.
Select the “Disk Management” object.

If the file system column does not indicate “NTFS” as the file system for each local hard drive, then this is a finding.

Documentable: Yes
Documentable Explanation: Some hardware vendors create a small FAT partition to store troubleshooting and recovery data. No other files should be stored here. This requirement should be documented with the IAO.

Fix Text (F-53r1_fix)
Format all partitions/drives to use NTFS.