17.9.3 (L1) Ensure 'Audit Security State Change' is set to include 'Success'

Information

This subcategory reports changes in security state of the system, such as when the security subsystem starts and stops. Events for this subcategory include:
- 4608: Windows is starting up.
- 4609: Windows is shutting down.
- 4616: The system time was changed.
- 4621: Administrator recovered system from CrashOnAuditFail. Users who are not administrators will now be allowed to log on. Some audit-able activity might not have been recorded.
The recommended state for this setting is to include: Success.

Rationale:
Auditing these events may be useful when investigating a security incident.

Solution

To establish the recommended configuration via GP, set the following UI path to include Success:
Computer Configuration\Policies\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Advanced Audit Policy Configuration\Audit Policies\System\Audit Security State Change

Impact:
If no audit settings are configured, or if audit settings are too lax on the computers in your organization, security incidents might not be detected or not enough evidence will be available for network forensic analysis after security incidents occur. However, if audit settings are too severe, critically important entries in the Security log may be obscured by all of the meaningless entries and computer performance and the available amount of data storage may be seriously affected. Companies that operate in certain regulated industries may have legal obligations to log certain events or activities.

Default Value:
Success.

References:
1. CCE-33043-1

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/14249