CMMC Practice AC.L2-3.1.6 – Non-Privileged Account Use: Use non-privileged accounts or roles when accessing nonsecurity functions.
This document provides assessment guidance for conducting Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) assessments for Level 2. In this edition of the On Call Compliance Solutions Compliance Tip of the Week, we discuss how certain requirements limit exposure when operating from within privileged accounts or roles. Let’s talk about NIST 800-171 Control 3.1.6 -- Use non-privileged accounts or roles when accessing nonsecurity functions.
This requirement limits exposure when operating from within privileged accounts or roles. The inclusion of roles addresses situations where organizations implement access control policies such as role-based access control and where a change of role provides the same degree of assurance in the change of access authorizations for the user and all processes acting on behalf of the user as would be provided by a change between a privileged and non privileged account.
Further Discussion
A user with a privileged account can perform more tasks and access more information than a person with a non-privileged account. Tasks (including unauthorized tasks orchestrated by attackers) performed when using the privileged account can have a greater impact on the system. System administrators and users with privileged accounts must be trained not to use their privileged accounts for everyday tasks, such as browsing the internet or connecting unnecessarily to other systems or services.