Description
The organization protects and controls information system media during transport outside of controlled areas and restricts the activities associated with transport of such media to authorized personnel.
Supplemental Guidance
Information system media includes both digital media (e.g., diskettes, tapes, removable hard drives, flash/thumb drives, compact disks, digital video disks) and non- digital media (e.g., paper, microfilm). A controlled area is any area or space for which the organization has confidence that the physical and procedural protections provided are sufficient to meet the requirements established for protecting the information and/or information system. This control also applies to portable and mobile computing and communications devices with information storage capability (e.g., notebook computers, personal digital assistants, cellular telephones) that are transported outside of controlled areas. Telephone systems are also considered information systems and may have the capability to store information on internal media (e.g., on voicemail systems). Since telephone systems do not have, in most cases, the identification, authentication, and access control mechanisms typically employed in other information systems, organizational personnel exercise extreme caution in the types of information stored on telephone voicemail systems that are transported outside of controlled areas. An organizational assessment of risk guides the selection of media and associated information contained on that media requiring protection during transport. Organizations document in policy and procedures, the media requiring protection during transport and the specific measures taken to protect such transported media. The rigor with which this control is applied is commensurate with the FIPS 199 security categorization of the information contained on the media. An organizational assessment of risk also guides the selection and use of appropriate storage containers for transporting non-digital media. Authorized transport and courier personnel may include individuals from outside the organization (e.g., U.S. Postal Service or a commercial transport or delivery service).