AU-11_audit-record-retention

AU-11 Audit Record Retention

High-Level Description

Family: Audit and Accountability (AU) Framework: NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5

Organizations retain audit records until it is determined that the records are no longer needed for administrative, legal, audit, or other operational purposes. This includes the retention and availability of audit records relative to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, subpoenas, and law enforcement actions. Organizations develop standard categories of audit records relative to such types of actions and standard response processes for each type of action. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) General Records Schedules provide federal policy on records retention.

What to Check

• Verify AU-11 Audit Record Retention is documented in SSP
• Confirm control is operating effectively
• Review evidence of continuous monitoring for AU-11

How to Test

Step 1: Review Documentation

Examine the System Security Plan (SSP) and related artifacts for AU-11 implementation details. Verify the organization has documented how this control is satisfied.

Step 2: Validate Implementation

# For cloud environments, use cloud-audit-mcp tools
# For on-premises, review system configurations directly

# Example: Check if account management policies exist
grep -r "account.management\|access.control" /etc/security/ 2>/dev/null

Step 3: Test Operating Effectiveness

Verify the control is actively functioning, not just documented. Check logs, configurations, and operational evidence.

Tools

Remediation Guide

Control Statement

Retain audit records for [organization-defined] to provide support for after-the-fact investigations of incidents and to meet regulatory and organizational information retention requirements.

Implementation Guidance

Organizations retain audit records until it is determined that the records are no longer needed for administrative, legal, audit, or other operational purposes. This includes the retention and availability of audit records relative to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, subpoenas, and law enforcement actions. Organizations develop standard categories of audit records relative to such types of actions and standard response processes for each type of action. The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) General Records Schedules provide federal policy on records retention.

Risk Assessment

CWE Categories

References

• NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 - AU-11
• NIST SP 800-53A Rev 5 (Assessment Procedures)
• NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 Full Catalog

Checklist

• Control documented in SSP
• Implementation evidence collected
• Operating effectiveness validated
• Continuous monitoring in place
• Related controls (AU-2, AU-4, AU-5, AU-6, AU-9) reviewed