Details

DBMSs handling data requiring ‘data at rest’ protections must employ cryptographic mechanisms to prevent unauthorized disclosure and modification of the information at rest. These cryptographic mechanisms may be native to the DBMS or implemented via additional software or operating system/file system settings, as appropriate to the situation.

Selection of a cryptographic mechanism is based on the need to protect the integrity of organizational information. The strength of the mechanism is commensurate with the security category and/or classification of the information. Organizations have the flexibility to either encrypt all information on storage devices (i.e., full disk encryption) or encrypt specific data structures (e.g., files, records, or fields).

The decision whether and what to encrypt rests with the data owner and is also influenced by the physical measures taken to secure the equipment and media on which the information resides.

NOTE: Nessus has not performed this check. Please review the benchmark to ensure target compliance.

Solution

Create an encrypted partition to host the ‘‘ directory. This can be done at the OS level with a technology such as db-crypt or other encryption technologies provided by third-party tools.

If only certain columns need encryption, use pgcrypt to encrypt those columns as documented here:

http://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/pgcrypto.html

Supportive Information

The following resource is also helpful.

• https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_EDB_PGS_Advanced_Server_V2R1_STIG.zip

This security hardening control applies to the following category of controls within NIST 800-53: System and Communications Protection.This control applies to the following type of system Unix.

References

• 800-53|SC-28(1)
• CAT|II
• CCI|CCI-002476
• Rule-ID|SV-213632r508024_rule
• STIG-ID|PPS9-00-009300
• STIG-Legacy|SV-83621
• STIG-Legacy|V-69017
• Vuln-ID|V-213632

Source

• Tenable.com/audits