Northeastern University Maintenance Standard

Document Metadata

Related Policy: Northeastern University Information Security Policy, Northeastern University Configuration Management Standard, Northeastern University Personnel Security Standard, Northeastern University Physical Security Standard, Northeastern University Audit and Accountability Standard

Responsible Office: Office of Information Security (OIS)

Purpose and Scope

Northeastern University is committed to securing its data and providing clear and concise guidance on protecting the many information technology (IT) systems we use. Given the widespread use and diversity of the types of IT systems employed within Northeastern University, it is paramount that a technology-agnostic set of standards are in place and uniformly applied across all IT systems.

This standard establishes the minimum maintenance criteria to carry out and meet the intent of the directives within Northeastern University’s Information Security Policy. This standard applies to all organizations (e.g., academic entities, entities other than Colleges and Departments, legally separate but wholly owned entities) of Northeastern University.

IT systems are considered in the scope of this standard if they utilize any of the following: Northeastern’s Network, ITS troubleshooting or administration, OIS incident response or investigation, or a Northeastern Microsoft account (e.g., @northeastern.edu).

Maintenance Overview

This Standard focusses on maintenance (MA). Maintenance establishes the methods for Northeastern University IT systems’ upkeep, preserving good working order and minimizing the risk of software and hardware failure.

Roles and Responsibilities

The following high-level functional roles support the maintenance processes for IT systems. In some cases, there may be more than one functional role associated with a specific process or task; similarly, more than one person may perform some roles. The following describe the roles and responsibilities associated with maintenance within the Northeastern University environment.

Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

Individual responsible for the overall Northeastern University information security program.

System Administrator

An organization or individual responsible for setting up and maintaining an IT system, appliance, or specific IT system elements. This role revolves around hands on management of the IT system, usually more technical in nature than the System Owner. They are also responsible for implementing approved secure baseline configurations, incorporating secure configuration settings for IT products, and conducting/assisting with configuration monitoring activities as needed.

Depending on the size of the IT system, these responsibilities can be split across multiple skill-based domains listed below. These domains can be managed by separate teams across Northeastern University depending on the skills necessary to carry out the listed responsibilities.

• Infrastructure: manages any servers that are not aligned to a specific skill-based domain listed below.
• Network: manages all hardware and IT systems related to managing network communications.
• Security: manages all IT systems that ensure and confirm security of the environment. Sentinel, Defender, Tenable, Azure, Intune, Windows Cloud PC, etc.
• Desktop: manages the physical workstations and the software installed on them.
• Identity: manages IT systems that control identity-based access, like Entra ID.

System Owner

An individual or organization responsible for the development, procurement, integration, modification, operation, and maintenance, and/or final disposition of an IT system.

Also responsible for establishing, tracking, and maintaining the inventory of information technology products and IT systems which process, transmit, or store sensitive information; to include hardware, software, and firmware. Depending on the size of the IT system, these responsibilities can be assigned to someone with a role closely aligned to that of an Asset Manager.

Also responsible for maintaining the appropriate operational security posture for an IT system or enclave and for ensuring the information assurance of a program or organization. Depending on the size of the IT system, these responsibilities can be assigned to someone with a role closely aligned to that of an Information System Security Officer.

Standard

This standard is scoped primarily around a subset of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 800-171 controls to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information. The related NIST controls have been tagged (e.g., 3.7.1) in the text below to identify where each listed responsibility inherits its requirements from.

As the maintenance capability is matured over time, additional controls may be considered to augment confidentiality and address the availability and integrity of information. Additionally, when implementing the criterion of this document, organizations may choose to implement stricter criteria; however, the criterion cannot be lessened without formal exception by the Northeastern University Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) as described in the Compliance section of this standard.

Manage Maintenance

(3.7.1) Maintenance Activities

The maintenance process preserves good working order and minimizes the risk of software and hardware failure for IT systems. The System Owner is responsible for defining the types and frequencies of maintenance activities (e.g., corrective, preventative, adaptive, perfective) to be scheduled, performed, and tracked for Northeastern University IT systems and system components (i.e., hardware, firmware, applications).

The System Owner is responsible for ensuring maintenance activities on IT systems and IT system components are performed in accordance with organizational requirements which may include manufacturer and/or vendor specifications. The System Owner is also responsible for ensuring the scheduling, performing, and tracking of maintenance activities is consistent with the configuration and change management process outlined in the Northeastern University Information Security Policy and the Northeastern University Configuration Management Standard.

The System Administrator is responsible for performing maintenance activities on Northeastern University IT systems and system components.

(3.7.6) Supervision of Maintenance Personnel

The organization may require the use of external maintenance providers to perform maintenance activities. All maintenance personnel without required access authorizations (e.g., vendor support personnel, short-term maintenance contractors) performing maintenance activities must be supervised. The System Owner is responsible for ensuring all maintenance personnel without required access authorizations undergo background screening prior to their being granted access to organizational IT systems, equipment, and operating environments. This must be done in accordance with the Northeastern University Information Security Policy and Northeastern University Personnel Security Standard.

The System Owner is responsible for approving the necessary access permissions (i.e., physical) required of maintenance personnel without access authorizations and approving the defined maintenance window in which maintenance personnel may perform IT system maintenance.

The System Administrator is responsible for escorting maintenance personnel (i.e., visitors) during on-site IT system maintenance in accordance with the Northeastern University Information Security Policy and the Northeastern University Physical Security Standard. Prior to the start of any maintenance activities, the System Administrator is responsible for informing the System Owner of the maintenance activities to allow for additional monitoring activities to be performed, if necessary.

The System Administrator is responsible for reviewing audit logs of maintenance activities, prior to completion of all maintenance, to identify potential malicious activity in accordance with the Northeastern University Information Security Policy and the Northeastern University Audit and Accountability Standard.

In conjunction with the System Owner’s monitoring activities, the Security Administrator is also responsible for monitoring maintenance activities to ensure proper completion and to prevent potential malicious activity. When maintenance activities are complete, the System Administrator is responsible for inspecting the IT system to ensure no unexpected software or devices were left (i.e., intentionally, or unintentionally) on the IT system.

Definitions

The following definitions have been derived from industry standard definitions provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Computer Security Resource Center Glossary and, where appropriate, tailored for Northeastern University’s IT environment.

Configuration and Change Management

A collection of activities focused on establishing and maintaining the integrity of information technology products and IT systems, through control of processes for initializing, changing, and monitoring the configurations of those products and IT systems throughout the IT system development life cycle.

Information Technology (IT)

Computing and/or communications hardware and/or software components and related resources that can collect, store, process, maintain, share, transmit, or dispose of data. IT components include computers and associated peripheral devices, computer operating IT systems, utility/support software, and communications hardware and software.

Organization

An entity of any size, complexity, or positioning within an organizational structure (e.g., school, department, lab, operational elements).

Visitors

Unauthorized individual who are denied unrestricted access to Northeastern University environments and must be escorted by authorized users.

Compliance

This standard complies with the directives defined in the Northeastern University Information Security Policy. The university recognizes that on rare occasions there might be compelling reasons to consider allowing an organization to operate outside of the criterion defined in this standard, as derived from the Northeastern University Information Security Policy. To facilitate this consideration the System Owner must submit a petition for a risk-based policy exception in writing, including supporting rationale, and forward it to the Northeastern University CISO for review and approval. All approved risk-based policy exceptions must be formally documented by the Northeastern University CISO and indicate the exception duration (e.g., temporary, long-term). The Northeastern University CISO is responsible for disseminating and communicating all risk-based exception approvals and rescissions to the relevant stakeholders in a timely manner.

Change and Review Log

Appendix A. Northeastern University Maintenance Standard Summary

The table below summarizes the Northeastern University IT system environment minimum criteria for enabling maintenance capabilities within the Northeastern University IT system environments.

• The first column “Northeastern University Practice ID” identifies the related Northeastern University practice ID as defined in the NIST 800-171.
• The “Northeastern University Practice Statement” column includes the Northeastern University practices required to be met for that control.
• The third column, “Derived Requirement”, provides a description of the requirement derived from the high-level Northeastern University practice statement. Derived requirements were developed from analysis of the intent of the practice and the logical components required to satisfy the practice. In some instances, an Northeastern University practice statement may be derived into several requirements to be addressed to satisfy the Northeastern University practice.
• The final column, “Northeastern University IT system environment Criteria”, defines the minimum criteria (e.g., configurations, actions, responsibilities, practices, etc.) which the university will implement to satisfy the related Northeastern University practice.