SC-5_denial-of-service-protection

SC-5 Denial-of-service Protection

High-Level Description

Family: System and Communications Protection (SC) Framework: NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5

Denial-of-service events may occur due to a variety of internal and external causes, such as an attack by an adversary or a lack of planning to support organizational needs with respect to capacity and bandwidth. Such attacks can occur across a wide range of network protocols (e.g., IPv4, IPv6). A variety of technologies are available to limit or eliminate the origination and effects of denial-of-service events. For example, boundary protection devices can filter certain types of packets to protect system components on internal networks from being directly affected by or the source of denial-of-service attacks. Employing increased network capacity and bandwidth combined with service redundancy also reduces the susceptibility to denial-of-service events.

What to Check

• Verify SC-5 Denial-of-service Protection is documented in SSP
• Validate all 2 control requirements are implemented
• Confirm control is operating effectively
• Review evidence of continuous monitoring for SC-5

How to Test

Step 1: Review Documentation

Examine the System Security Plan (SSP) and related artifacts for SC-5 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

[organization-defined] the effects of the following types of denial-of-service events: [organization-defined] ; and Employ the following controls to achieve the denial-of-service objective: [organization-defined].

Implementation Guidance

Denial-of-service events may occur due to a variety of internal and external causes, such as an attack by an adversary or a lack of planning to support organizational needs with respect to capacity and bandwidth. Such attacks can occur across a wide range of network protocols (e.g., IPv4, IPv6). A variety of technologies are available to limit or eliminate the origination and effects of denial-of-service events. For example, boundary protection devices can filter certain types of packets to protect system components on internal networks from being directly affected by or the source of denial-of-service attacks. Employing increased network capacity and bandwidth combined with service redundancy also reduces the susceptibility to denial-of-service events.

Risk Assessment

CWE Categories

References

• NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 - SC-5
• 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 (CP-2, IR-4, SC-6, SC-7, SC-40) reviewed