PR.DS-6: Integrity Verification — NIST Cybersecurity Framework
Integrity verification is your defense against undetected tampering with critical software, firmware, and data assets. NIST PR.DS-6 requires organizations to implement mechanisms that detect unauthorized changes before they cause harm. For SMBs, this means establishing practical controls that verify authenticity without slowing operations.
What this means
Integrity verification ensures that software, firmware, and information haven't been modified, corrupted, or tampered with—either accidentally or maliciously. This control requires you to use cryptographic checksums, digital signatures, or hash-based validation to confirm that files and systems remain authentic from creation through deployment and operation. When integrity checks fail, your systems should alert security teams and prevent execution of compromised assets.
How to comply
- 1.Implement cryptographic hash functions (SHA-256 or stronger) to generate checksums for critical software and firmware before deployment
- 2.Enable digital signature verification for all executable files, libraries, and firmware updates from trusted vendors
- 3.Deploy file integrity monitoring (FIM) tools to detect unauthorized changes to production systems in real time
- 4.Establish a baseline of known-good configurations and regularly compare running systems against this baseline
- 5.Automate integrity checks at system startup and before executing critical processes
- 6.Maintain audit logs of all integrity check results, including timestamps and verification outcomes
- 7.Define and document procedures for handling integrity verification failures, including quarantine and incident response
Evidence auditors look for
- FIM tool logs showing daily integrity scans with zero anomalies detected
- Digital signature verification reports from firmware update deployment records
- Cryptographic hash comparison documentation for software releases
- System startup logs confirming successful integrity checks before boot completion
- Inventory of approved vendor certificates and signing keys used for verification
- Incident response records demonstrating quarantine of files failing integrity validation
- Configuration baseline documentation with versioning and approval dates
- Automated alerting configuration showing notification triggers for integrity failures
Frequently asked questions
When will FAQs be available?
The FAQ for this control is currently being prepared.
GRCWatch automatically collects integrity check logs from your tools and generates evidence reports that prove PR.DS-6 compliance without manual log hunting.
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