NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-42 — Sensor Capability And Data

What this control requires

Prohibit the use of devices with environmental sensing capabilities (e.g., microphones, cameras, GPS) in specific organizational facilities or systems, or restrict the remote activation of such capabilities with specified exceptions. Additionally, provide explicit notification to users when sensors are in use. This control ensures the protection of sensitive information from unauthorized surveillance or tracking through mobile devices. This control supports the Mobile devices capability within the System and Communications Protection family.

In plain English

Prohibit the use of devices with environmental sensing capabilities (e.g., microphones, cameras, GPS) in specific organizational facilities or systems, or restrict the remote activation of such capabilities with specified exceptions. In practice, this means you can prove you restrict information-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 System and Communications Protection, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Control SC-42) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles.

How to implement

Endpoint Protection

MDM. Make MDM enrollment a hard gate for device access (Intune compliance + Conditional Access, or Jamf + Okta device trust). Unmanaged devices simply don't get a session token.

EDR. Deploy CrowdStrike / SentinelOne / Defender for Endpoint to every server and laptop; alert on any host that stops sending telemetry for >24h.

Operational checklist

• Restrict. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Information. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Security. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Data. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Prohibit. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Scope: information, system, notification, e, mobile devices, controls, protection, capability.

Evidence to collect

• User Device Scan. MDM compliance state per user device (Intune / Jamf / Workspace ONE).

Endpoint compliance telemetry (Intune, Jamf) proves managed coverage. Focus: Sensor Capability And Data.

Common pitfalls

• Pilot MDM rollouts that quietly exclude executives or engineers; carving out the highest-risk users is the most common audit failure.

Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5

• Control SC-15(1) — Physical Or Logical Disconnect
• Control SC-15 — Collaborative Computing Devices And Applications
• Control PE-13(1) — Detection Systems -- Automatic Activation And Notification
• Control PE-13(2) — Suppression Systems -- Automatic Activation And Notification
• Control SC-7(7) — Split Tunneling For Remote Devices
• Control PE-10 — Emergency Shutoff

References

• NIST Computer Security Resource Center — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5
• Catalogue identifier: Control SC-42

Topics: endpoint securityendpoint protectionenvironmental controls