PM-7(1)_offloading

PM-7(1) Offloading

Enhancement of: PM-7

High-Level Description

Family: Program Management (PM) Framework: NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5

Not every function or service that a system provides is essential to organizational mission or business functions. Printing or copying is an example of a non-essential but supporting service for an organization. Whenever feasible, such supportive but non-essential functions or services are not co-located with the functions or services that support essential mission or business functions. Maintaining such functions on the same system or system component increases the attack surface of the organization’s mission-essential functions or services. Moving supportive but non-essential functions to a non-critical system, system component, or external provider can also increase efficiency by putting those functions or services under the control of individuals or providers who are subject matter experts in the functions or services.

What to Check

• Verify PM-7(1) Offloading is documented in SSP
• Confirm control is operating effectively
• Review evidence of continuous monitoring for PM-7(1)
• Verify enhancement builds upon base control PM-7

How to Test

Step 1: Review Documentation

Examine the System Security Plan (SSP) and related artifacts for PM-7(1) 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

Offload [organization-defined] to other systems, system components, or an external provider.

Implementation Guidance

Not every function or service that a system provides is essential to organizational mission or business functions. Printing or copying is an example of a non-essential but supporting service for an organization. Whenever feasible, such supportive but non-essential functions or services are not co-located with the functions or services that support essential mission or business functions. Maintaining such functions on the same system or system component increases the attack surface of the organization’s mission-essential functions or services. Moving supportive but non-essential functions to a non-critical system, system component, or external provider can also increase efficiency by putting those functions or services under the control of individuals or providers who are subject matter experts in the functions or services.

Risk Assessment

CWE Categories

References

• NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 - PM-7(1)
• 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 (SA-8) reviewed