EMB-13: Authorized Communications

There is no evidence of a capability to restrict embedded technologies to communicate only with authorized peers and service endpoints.

C|P-CMM1 is N/A, since a structured process is required to restrict embedded technologies to communicate only with authorized peers and service endpoints.

C|P-CMM2 is N/A, since a well-defined process is required to restrict embedded technologies to communicate only with authorized peers and service endpoints.

Embedded Technology (EMB) efforts are standardized across the organization and centrally managed, where technically feasible, to ensure consistency. CMM Level 3 control maturity would reasonably expect all, or at least most, the following criteria to exist:

• An IT Asset Management (ITAM) function, or similar function, categorizes embedded technologies according to the data the asset stores, transmits and/ or processes to ensure that the appropriate technology controls are applied to protect the asset and the data it stores, transmits or processes.
• An IT infrastructure team, or similar function, ensures that statutory, regulatory and contractual cybersecurity and data privacy obligations are addressed to ensure secure configurations for embedded technologies are designed, built and maintained for embedded technologies.
• Cybersecurity personnel perform annual evaluations of deployed embedded technologies to identify necessary updates to mitigate any newly discovered risks associated with legacy embedded technologies.
• Configurations for embedded technologies conform to industry-recognized standards for hardening (e.g., DISA STIGs, CIS Benchmarks or OEM security guides) for test, development, staging and production environments.
• Configuration management of embedded technologies is centralized for all operating systems, applications, servers and other technologies that are capable of being configured.
• Special baseline configurations for embedded technologies are created for higher-risk environments.
• Deviations to baseline configurations for embedded technologies are required to have a risk assessment and the business process owner accepts the risk(s) associated with the deviation.
• Unauthorized configuration changes to embedded technologies are responded to in accordance with an Incident Response Plan (IRP) to determine if the unauthorized configuration is malicious in nature.
• A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) is used to help ensure the protection of sensitive/regulated data processed, stored or transmitted on embedded technologies, so that cybersecurity and data protection controls are implemented in accordance with applicable statutory, regulatory and contractual obligations.
• Embedded technologies are configured to initiate all communications and drop any new incoming communications.

See C|P-CMM3. There are no defined C|P-CMM4 criteria, since it is reasonable to assume a quantitatively-controlled process is not necessary to restrict embedded technologies to communicate only with authorized peers and service endpoints.

See C|P-CMM4. There are no defined C|P-CMM5 criteria, since it is reasonable to assume a continuously-improving process is not necessary to restrict embedded technologies to communicate only with authorized peers and service endpoints.