# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 AU-16(1) — Identity Preservation - Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/au-16-1-identity-preservation - Section: [Compliance](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance) › [NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5) › AU — Audit and Accountability - Last updated: 2026-06-05 - Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com) **NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5**·Control `AU-16(1)`·high·Component: **Audit and Accountability** ## What this control requires > Preserves individual identities in cross-organizational audit trails to enable tracing of actions across organizational boundaries. This control supports the Identity Tracking System capability within the Audit and Accountability family. > > — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control AU-16(1) ### In plain English Preserves individual identities in cross-organizational audit trails to enable tracing of actions across organizational boundaries. In practice, this means you can prove you access management-level controls on a defined cadence. ## Why it matters SP 800-53 is the catalogue every U.S. federal authorisation (FedRAMP, FISMA, CMMC) and most regulated industries point at. A missing control surfaces as a Plan of Action & Milestones (POA&M) item that an Authorizing Official must approve before the Authority To Operate is granted or renewed. This control is rated **high**. Auditors expect a named owner, a remediation SLA, and a tooling artefact that evidences continuous operation. ## What an auditor looks for A 3PAO (FedRAMP) or Independent Assessor (NIST RMF) tests against NIST SP 800-53A assessment procedures. For each control they expect a documented implementation that addresses every assessment objective (Examine, Interview, Test) and an implementation summary in the System Security Plan. Within **Audit and Accountability**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Control AU-16(1)) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles. ## How to implement #### Logging Monitoring **AWS.** Org-trail CloudTrail to a central log archive account, GuardDuty in every region, and Security Hub for cross-source correlation. **Azure.** Pipe every diagnostic setting into a central Log Analytics workspace; onboard Microsoft Sentinel for SIEM/SOAR. **GCP.** Aggregate audit logs in a dedicated logging project with sink to BigQuery; enable Security Command Center Premium and route findings to Chronicle SIEM. ### Operational checklist - **Access.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Audit.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Individual.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Enable.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Review.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Scope:** management, actions, system, individual, identity, preservation, review, capability. ## Evidence to collect - **Identity Scan.** IAM / IdP exports — Entra ID, Okta, IAM Identity Center, Workspace directory — showing accounts, roles, MFA state and last sign-in. Identity analytics (Okta, SailPoint, Access Analyzer) demonstrates least-privilege. Focus: Identity Preservation. ## Common pitfalls - Per-account logging that nobody stitches together at the org level — incidents that cross accounts go undetected for days. ## How it maps to other frameworks Computed from shared tags, control component and key-operation subjects — handy when you are reconciling controls across an audit. - [**NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3 3.3.1** — Event Logging](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3/3-3-1-event-logging) - [**CIS Controls v8 14.9** — Conduct Role-Specific Security Awareness and Skills Training](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/cis-controls-v8/14-9-conduct-role-specific-security-awareness-and-skills-training) - [**SOC 2 (2017 TSC) CC6.2** — Access Provisioning](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria/cc6-2-access-provisioning) - [**ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.8.2** — Privileged access rights](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-8-2-privileged-access-rights) - [**ISO/IEC 27701:2025 A.3.8** — Identity management](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27701-2025/a-3-8-identity-management) ## Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 - [**Control AU-10(1)** — Association Of Identities](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/au-10-1-association-of-identities) - [**Control AU-6(8)** — Full Text Analysis Of Privileged Commands](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/au-6-8-full-text-analysis-of-privileged-commands) - [**Control AU-10(2)** — Validate Binding Of Information Producer Identity](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/au-10-2-validate-binding-of-information-producer-identity) - [**Control AU-9(4)** — Access By Subset Of Privileged Users](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/au-9-4-access-by-subset-of-privileged-users) - [**Control AU-6(7)** — Permitted Actions](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/au-6-7-permitted-actions) - [**Control AU-9(6)** — Read-Only Access](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/au-9-6-read-only-access) ## References - [NIST Computer Security Resource Center — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5](https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/risk-management/sp800-53-controls) - Catalogue identifier: `Control AU-16(1)` Topics: identity accessprivileged accessidentity managementaccess reviewlogging monitoring ## Related compliance guidance - [NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5: a practical implementation guide for cloud teams](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5): Start with the full NIST SP 800-53 implementation guide — scope, roadmap, evidence and how the assessment runs. - [NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC: a practical guide to protecting CUI in the cloud](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3): If your obligation is protecting CUI in your own systems for a federal or defence contract, this derived subset — not the full catalogue — is the requirement. - [SOC 2 compliance: a practical implementation guide for cloud-native SaaS teams](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria): Most commercial SaaS already hold a SOC 2 Type 2, and FedRAMP 20x Class A is designed for providers that have one.