Active

Authentication Framework

The organization shall establish an authentication framework that defines the structures, processes, and practices for authenticating identities accessing organizational systems and information assets. The framework shall articulate how authentication methods are selected, implemented, governed, and monitored.

Requirement ID
IAM-002-R001
Parent Control
IAM-002
Domain Code
IAM

Requirement Details & Guidance

IAM-002-R001 · IAM-002
Why This Requirement Exists

This requirement exists to define how authentication methods are selected, implemented, governed, and monitored and to ensure identity and access decisions are controlled, traceable, and aligned with business and security needs.

Implementation Guidance

Define and document the process for define how authentication methods are selected, implemented, governed, and monitored. Establish accountable owners, required inputs and outputs, approval or validation points, risk-based criteria, review frequency, exception handling, monitoring, and evidence requirements. Integrate the process with authoritative identity sources and relevant HR, application, infrastructure, security, and compliance workflows. Retain records sufficient to demonstrate operation.

Practical Application & Audit Readiness

IAM-002-R001 · Field Guidance

Business Examples

    Common Audit Findings

      Common Mistakes

        Best Practices & Ownership

        IAM-002 · Recommended Approach

        Recommended Practices

          Typical Owner

          Cross-Mapped Regulatory Frameworks

          Harmonized Control Mappings
          FRAMEWORK CODE FRAMEWORK NAME & DETAILS FAMILY / CATEGORY VERSION ACTION
          COBIT2019 COBIT COBIT is an enterprise governance and management f... Clause: 4.4 – Deliver, Service and Support (DSS) > DSS05 – Managed Security Services > DSS05.04 – Manage user identity and logical access.
          COBIT
          Governance Framework
          		 v2019 View →
          DORA Digital Operational Resilience Act The EU Digital Operational Resilience Act establis... Clause: Article 9(4)(c) – Logical/physical access limitation and access-rights administration Article 9(4)(d) – Strong authentication, cryptographic keys and encryption
          EU
          Regulation
          		 vCurrent View →
          GDPR General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) The General Data Protection Regulation is a bindin... Clause: Article 32(1)(b) – Confidentiality, integrity, availability and access resilience; Article 29 – Processing under the authority of the controller or processor
          EU
          Regulation
          		 vCurrent View →
          HIPAA Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act HIPAA is a U.S. federal law supported by implement... Clause: § 164.308(a)(10) Standard: Information access management; § 164.312(a) Standard: Access control; § 164.308(a)(10)(ii)(C) Authentication management; § 164.312(f) Standard: Authentication
          US
          Law
          		 vCurrent View →
          IRDAI IRDAI Information & Cyber Security Guidelines IRDAI information and cyber-security requirements... Clause: §2.3-3.1 – User Identification and Accounts; §2.3-3.6 – Secure log-on; §2.19-3.4.1 – Authentication
          India
          Guideline
          		 vLatest View →
          NIS2 NIS2 Directive The NIS2 Directive establishes EU-wide cybersecuri... Clause: Article 21(2)(j) – MFA/continuous authentication, secured voice/video/text communications and secured emergency communications
          EU
          Directive
          		 vCurrent View →
          NIST-CSF NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) The NIST Cybersecurity Framework provides high-lev... Clause: PR.AA – Identity Management, Authentication, and Access Control | PR.AA-03 – Users, services, and hardware are authenticated
          NIST
          Framework
          		 v2 View →
          NIST80053 NIST SP 800-53 NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 presents control families, i... Clause: 3.7 – IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION; IA-1 – POLICY AND PROCEDURES, IA-2 – IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION (ORGANIZATIONAL USERS)
          NIST
          Control Catalog
          		 vRev. 5 View →
          NPCI-ISR NPCI Information Security Requirements NPCI information-security requirements define cont... Clause: Security Measures / Controls; Identity and Access Management – Access Mechanism
          India
          Standard
          		 vLatest View →
          PCI-DSS PCI DSS PCI DSS is an industry security standard maintaine... Clause: 8.3.8 – Authentication policies and procedures are
          PCI
          Standard
          		 v4 View →
          RBI-CSF RBI Cyber Security Framework / Master Directions RBI cyber-security requirements and directions set... Clause: 8) User Access Control / Management – 8.2 Protection of customer access credentials, authentication information and tokens; 8) User Access Control / Management – 8.4 Centralised authentication/authorization, strong passwords, MFA, least privilege and segregation of duties
          India
          Regulation
          		 vLatest View →
          SEBI-CSCRF SEBI Cyber Security & Cyber Resilience Framework SEBI’s Cybersecurity and Cyber Resilience Framewor... Clause: 3.1 PR.AA: Identity Management, Authentication, and Access Control
          India
          Regulation
          		 vLatest View →
          SOC2 SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria SOC 2 is an independent examination and reporting... Clause: CC6.1 – Logical and Physical Access Controls – The entity implements logical access security software, infrastructure, and architectures over protected information assets to protect them from security events to meet the entity's objectives. CC6.2 – Logical and Physical Access Controls – Prior to issuing system credentials and granting system access, the entity registers and authorizes new internal and external users whose access is administered by the entity. For those users whose access is administered by the entity, user system credentials are removed when user access is no longer authorized.
          AICPA
          Audit Framework
          		 vLatest View →

          Parent Domain Context

          Governance Domain Baseline
          Domain Name:
          Identity & Access Management (IAM)
          Purpose:
          To ensure that only authorized users have appropriate access to systems and data.
          Scope:
          Enterprise
          View

          Parent Control Context

          Control Baseline
          Control Name:
          Authentication Management (IAM-002)
          Summary:
          Establishes and enforces strong authentication policies and mechanisms including multi-factor authentication, password policies, credential management, and adaptive authentication across all users and systems.
          Business Description:
          Manage and enforce strong authentication mechanisms for all users and systems.
          View