Minimum Security Standards for Systems
Purpose
Scope
Audience
Minimum Standard
Security Review for New Security Software and Appliances
Non-Compliance and Exceptions
Related UTB/TSC Policies, Procedures, Best Practices and Applicable Laws
Use the Minimum Security Standards for Systems Worksheet to document compliance with requirements for protecting Category-A data.
I. Purpose
These minimum standards serve as a supplement to the Information Resources Use and Security Policy, which was drafted in response to Texas Administrative Code 202 and UT System UTS-165. Adherence to the standards will increase the security of systems and help safeguard university information technology resources. These minimum standards exist in addition to all other university policies and federal and state regulations governing the protection of the university's data.
Compliance with these requirements does not imply a completely secure system. Instead, these requirements should be integrated into a comprehensive system security plan.
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II. Scope
These standards apply to all devices, physical or virtual, connected to the university networks through a physical, wireless, or VPN connection where data is classified as Category A, B, or C (see Data Classification Standard).
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III. Audience
All users with systems connected to the university network as in Sec. II, above.
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IV. Minimum Standards
This section lists the minimum standards that should be applied and enabled in Category A, B, and C data systems that are connected to the university network. Standards for Category A are generally required.
If products are not available from reputable commercial or reliable open source communities for a specific requirement, then the specific requirement is waived until an appropriate solution is available. In such cases a security exception report will be filed.
IT Owners and IT Custodians, lead researchers, and/or systems administrators are expected to use their professional judgment in managing risks to the information and systems they use and/or support. All security controls should be proportional to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability requirements of the data processed by the system. A current list of recommended software is maintained on the ITS BevoWare Web site.
Backups
| # |
Practice |
Cat A |
Cat B & C |
| 1.1 |
System administrators should establish and follow a procedure to carry out regular system backups. |
Required |
Recommended |
| 1.2 |
Backups must be verified at least monthly, either through automated verification, through customer restores, or through trial restores. |
Required |
Recommended |
| 1.3 |
Systems administrators must maintain documented restoration procedures for systems and the data on those systems. |
Required |
Recommended |
Change Management
| # |
Practice |
Cat A |
Cat B & C |
| 2.1 |
There must be a change control process for systems configuration. This process must be documented. |
Required |
Recommended |
|
2.2 |
System changes should be evaluated prior to being applied in a production environment.
- Patches must be tested prior to installation in the production environment if a test environment is available.
- If a test environment is not available, the lack of patch testing should be communicated to the service subscriber or data customer, along with possible changes in the environment due to the patch.
|
Required |
Recommended |
Computer Virus Prevention
| # |
Practice |
Cat A |
Cat B & C |
| 3.1 |
Anti-virus software must be installed and enabled. |
Required |
Required |
| 3.2 |
Install and enable anti-spyware software. Installing and enabling anti-spyware software is required if the machine is used by administrators to browse Web sites not specifically related to the administration of the machine. |
Recommended |
Recommended |
| 3.3 |
Anti-virus and, if applicable, anti-spyware software should be configured to update signatures daily. |
Required |
Recommended |
| 3.4 |
Systems administrators should maintain and keep available a description of the standard configuration of anti-virus software. |
Required |
Recommended |
Physical Access
| # |
Practice |
Cat A |
Cat B & C |
| 4.1 |
Systems must be physically secured in racks or areas with restricted access. Portable devices shall be physically secured if left unattended. |
Required |
Recommended |
| 4.2 |
Backup media must be secured from unauthorized physical access. If the backup media is stored off-site, it must be encrypted or have a documented process to prevent unauthorized access. |
Required |
Recommended |
System Hardening
| # |
Practice |
Cat A |
Cat B & C |
| 5.1 |
Systems must be set up in a protected network environment or by using a method that assures the system is not accessible via a potentially hostile network until it is secured. |
Required |
Recommended |
| 5.2 |
Operating system and application services security patches should be installed expediently and in a manner consistent with change management procedures. |
Required |
Required |
| 5.3 |
If automatic notification of new patches is available, that option should be enabled. |
Required |
Required |
| 5.4 |
Services, applications, and user accounts that are not being utilized should be disabled or uninstalled. |
Required |
Recommended |
| 5.5 |
Methods should be enabled to limit connections to services running on the host to only the authorized users of the service. Software firewalls, hardware firewalls, and service configuration are a few of the methods that may be employed. |
Required |
Recommended |
| 5.6 |
Services or applications running on systems manipulating Category A data should implement secure (that is, encrypted) communications as required by confidentiality and integrity needs. (See Data Encryption Guidelines.) |
Required |
Recommended |
| 5.7 |
Systems will provide secure storage for Category A data as required by confidentiality, integrity, and availability needs. Security can be provided by means such as, but not limited to, encryption (see Data Encryption Guidelines), access controls, file system audits, physically securing the storage media, or any combination thereof as deemed appropriate. |
Required |
Recommended |
| 5.8 |
If the operating system supports it, integrity checking of critical operating system files should be enabled and tested. Third-party tools may also be used to implement this. |
Required |
Recommended |
| 5.9 |
Integrity checking of system accounts, group memberships, and their associated privileges should be enabled and tested. |
Required |
Recommended |
| 5.10 |
The required university warning banner should be installed. |
Required |
Recommended |
| 5.11 |
Whenever possible, all non-removable or (re-) writable media must be configured with file systems that support access control. |
Required |
Recommended |
| 5.12 |
Access to non-public file system areas must require authentication. |
Required |
Recommended |
| 5.13 |
Strong password requirements will be enabled, as technology permits, based on the category of data the account is allowed to access. |
Required |
Required |
| 5.14 |
Apply the principle of least privilege to user, administrator, and system accounts. |
Required |
Recommended |
Security Monitoring
| # |
Practice |
Cat A |
Cat B & C |
| 6.1 |
If the operating system comes with a means to log activity, enabling and testing of those controls is required. |
Required |
Recommended |
| 6.2 |
Operating system and service log monitoring and analysis should be performed routinely. This process should be documented. |
Required |
Recommended |
| 6.3 |
The systems administrator must follow a documented backup strategy for security logs (for example, account management, access control, data integrity, etc.). Security logs should retain at least 14 days of relevant log information (data retention requirements for specific data should be considered). |
Required |
Recommended |
| 6.4 |
All administrator or root access must be logged. |
Required |
Recommended |
V. Security Review for New Security Software and Appliances
Departments evaluating the implementation of new security software or appliances, involving Category A type data, should request a security review by sending a written description of the proposed implementation to the Office of Information Security prior to selecting vendors or products. Security reviews tend to be informal and can often be performed quickly, while ensuring that best practices are being considered.
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VI. Non-Compliance and Exceptions
For all system administrators—if any of the minimum standards contained within this document cannot be met on systems manipulating Category A or B data that you support, an Exception Process must be initiated that includes reporting the non-compliance to the Information Security Office, along with a plan for risk assessment and management. (See Security Exception Report.) Non-compliance with these standards may result in revocation of system or network access, notification of supervisors, and reporting to the Office of Internal Audit.
University of Texas at Brownsville employees are required to comply with both institutional rules and regulations and applicable UT System rules and regulations. In addition to university and System rules and regulations, University of Texas at Brownsville employees are required to comply with state laws and regulations.
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VII. Related UTB/TSC Policies, Procedures, Best Practices and Applicable Laws
The policies and practices listed here inform the system hardening procedures described in this document and with which you should be familiar. (This is not an all-inclusive list of policies and procedures that affect information technology resources.)
UTB/TSC Acceptable Use Policy
Information Resources Use and Security Policy
UTB/TSC Data Classification Policies
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