# NIST800 53 PE-6 — Monitoring Physical Access

- Source: https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions/articles/a_gen_nist80053_pe6_50da8146d0-nist800-53-pe-6-monitoring-physical-access
- Section: [Solutions](https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions) › [NIST](https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions/62000112528) › [Physical and Environmental Protection](https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions/folders/f_gen_62000112528_physicalandenvironmentalprotection)
- Last updated: 2026-05-30
- Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com)

NIST800 53 · Control PE-6 · Priority: critical · Component: Physical and Environmental Protection

### What this control covers

Monitoring physical access to facilities where the system resides to detect and respond to physical security incidents. This includes reviewing access logs at specified intervals and coordinating results with the organization's incident response capability. Monitoring can include guards, surveillance equipment, and sensor devices, with reviews aimed at identifying suspicious or anomalous access patterns. This control supports the Physical Access Monitoring capability within the Physical and Environmental Protection family.

### Why it matters

You cannot investigate or attest what you did not log. This control underpins every incident-response capability and is what auditors will sample from for control operating effectiveness.

### How to implement

#### AWS

Turn on a **multi-region, organisation-wide CloudTrail** trail with log-file validation and ship to a dedicated, write-once **log archive account**. Enable **CloudTrail Lake** or stream to OpenSearch/Splunk for search. Pair with **GuardDuty**, **Security Hub**, and **VPC Flow Logs**.

#### Azure

Send **Activity logs** + diagnostic logs from every subscription to a central **Log Analytics workspace**. Stand up **Microsoft Sentinel** for SIEM/SOAR with the Azure, M365 and IdP connectors and pre-built analytics rules.

#### GCP

Centralize via **Cloud Logging** log sinks at the org level to a **locked log bucket** with 7-year retention. Use **SCC Premium** for posture findings and **Chronicle** for SIEM correlation.

#### Google Workspace

Forward the **Admin, Login, Drive, Token and Mobile** audit logs to Cloud Logging (Workspace BigQuery export). Alert on impossible-travel logins, OAuth-scope grants for high-risk scopes, and external Drive sharing of sensitive labels.

#### GitHub

Stream the **Enterprise audit log** to your SIEM and enable **Audit Log API** alerting on key events: owner changes, IP allowlist edits, secret deletions, repo visibility flips.

### Evidence to collect

-   `ticketing_workflow` — See the iCompaas Evidence library for the canonical source for this evidence type.

Workflow metrics (ServiceNow, Jira) show approvals and remediation. Focus: Monitoring Physical Access.

### Quick checklist

-   Access — Management / Reviews
-   Security — Management / Reviews
-   Physical — Management / Reviews
-   Protection — Management / Reviews
-   Suspicious — Management / Reviews
-   Environmental — Management / Reviews

### Related articles on this site

-   [NIST 800-171 3.14.3 Monitor system security alerts and advisories and take action in response.](https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions/articles/62000229239-nist-800-171-3-14-3-monitor-system-security-alerts-and-advisories-and-take-action-in-response-)
-   [NIST 800-171 3.3.1 Create and retain system audit logs and records to the extent needed to enable the monitoring, analysis, investigation, and reporting of unlawful or unauthorized system activity](https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions/articles/62000229271-nist-800-171-3-3-1-create-and-retain-system-audit-logs-and-records-to-the-extent-needed-to-enable-the)
-   [NIST 800-171 3.6.1 Establish an operational incident-handling capability for organizational systems that includes preparation, detection, analysis, containment, recovery, and user response activities.](https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions/articles/62000229301-nist-800-171-3-6-1-establish-an-operational-incident-handling-capability-for-organizational-systems-t)
-   [NIST 800-171 3.10.4 Maintain audit logs of physical access.](https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions/articles/62000229324-nist-800-171-3-10-4-maintain-audit-logs-of-physical-access-)

## 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): How the 800-53 catalogue, baselines and the Risk Management Framework fit together, and which controls take the most work in the cloud.
- [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 the driver is a DoD or federal contract handling CUI, 800-171 (and CMMC) is the scope you actually need.