id: "SC-02" title: "Separation of System and User Functionality" family: "SC" family_name: "System and Communications Protection" sort_id: "sc-02" priority: "P1" implementation_level: "system" enhancements: - sc-2.1 - sc-2.2


Statement

Separate user functionality, including user interface services, from system management functionality.

Guidance

System management functionality includes functions that are necessary to administer databases, network components, workstations, or servers. These functions typically require privileged user access. The separation of user functions from system management functions is physical or logical. Organizations may separate system management functions from user functions by using different computers, instances of operating systems, central processing units, or network addresses; by employing virtualization techniques; or some combination of these or other methods. Separation of system management functions from user functions includes web administrative interfaces that employ separate authentication methods for users of any other system resources. Separation of system and user functions may include isolating administrative interfaces on different domains and with additional access controls. The separation of system and user functionality can be achieved by applying the systems security engineering design principles in SA-8 , including SA-8(1), SA-8(3), SA-8(4), SA-8(10), SA-8(12), SA-8(13), SA-8(14) , and SA-8(18).

Assessment Objective

user functionality, including user interface services, is separated from system management functionality.

System and communications protection policy

procedures addressing application partitioning

system design documentation

system configuration settings and associated documentation

system audit records

system security plan

other relevant documents or records

System/network administrators

organizational personnel with information security responsibilities

system developer

Separation of user functionality from system management functionality