What this control covers
Delete or disable any dormant accounts after a period of 45 days of inactivity, where supported.
Why it matters
Risk is the language an executive team understands; this control connects technical reality to board-level decisions and budget allocation.
How to implement
AWS
Codify the policy intent as SCPs, AWS Config conformance packs, and Security Hub standards so the cloud enforces what the document says.
Azure
Codify in Azure Policy initiatives (built-in regulatory compliance for CIS, ISO 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA) and assign at management-group level.
GCP
Org Policy Service for guardrails and Config Validator in CI to pre-check Terraform plans against policy as code (Rego).
GitHub
Subscribe to secret-scanning alerts and Dependabot security advisories; require triage SLAs by severity. For exposed secrets, rotate at the cloud provider FIRST then revoke at GitHub — order matters.
On-premises
Maintain a policy library with a documented review cadence (annual minimum); store in your GRC tool with attestation tracking. Map each policy to controls so an audit pull cites the exact policy clause.
Evidence to collect
ticketing_workflow— See the iCompaas Evidence library for the canonical source for this evidence type.infra_scan— See the iCompaas Evidence library for the canonical source for this evidence type.
Workflow metrics (ServiceNow, Jira) show approvals and remediation. Focus: Disable Dormant Accounts.
Quick checklist
- Disable — Dormant Accounts / Response
Related articles on this site
- NIST 800-171 3.5.6 Disable identifiers after a defined period of inactivity.
- CMMC 2.0 IA.3.086 Disable identifiers after a defined period of inactivity.
- NIST 800-171 3.1.10 Use session lock with pattern-hiding displays to prevent access and viewing of data after a period of inactivity
- NIST 800-171 3.13.9 Terminate network connections associated with communications sessions at the end of the sessions or after a defined period of inactivity.