IA-4 Identifier Management
Control
Manage system identifiers by:
Receiving authorization from [Assignment: personnel or roles] to assign an individual, group, role, service, or device identifier;
Selecting an identifier that identifies an individual, group, role, service, or device;
Assigning the identifier to the intended individual, group, role, service, or device; and
Preventing reuse of identifiers for [Assignment: time period].
Discussion
Common device identifiers include Media Access Control (MAC) addresses, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, or device-unique token identifiers. The management of individual identifiers is not applicable to shared system accounts. Typically, individual identifiers are the usernames of the system accounts assigned to those individuals. In such instances, the account management activities of [AC-2](#ac-2) use account names provided by [IA-4](#ia-4) . Identifier management also addresses individual identifiers not necessarily associated with system accounts. Preventing the reuse of identifiers implies preventing the assignment of previously used individual, group, role, service, or device identifiers to different individuals, groups, roles, services, or devices.
Control enhancements (9)
- IA-4(1)Prohibit Account Identifiers as Public Identifiers
- IA-4(2)Supervisor Authorization
- IA-4(3)Multiple Forms of Certification
- IA-4(4)Identify User StatusMODERATEHIGH
- IA-4(5)Dynamic Management
- IA-4(6)Cross-organization Management
- IA-4(7)In-person Registration
- IA-4(8)Pairwise Pseudonymous Identifiers
- IA-4(9)Attribute Maintenance and Protection
Related controls
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Control catalog and framework text on this page is reproduced from official NIST publications — a public-domain work of the U.S. Government (17 U.S.C. §105). Maverc commentary, groupings, and readiness guidance are our own and are not part of any NIST publication.