Filtering Frameworks within Policy Compliance

Matthew Alderman

Last updated on: September 6, 2020

Do you ever want to see the control mappings in a report without doubling or tripling the size of the report? What about excluding certain control mappings from the control API to limit data exported? With the release of QualysGuard 6.17, users can now filter the frameworks at the subscription and/or report level within Policy Compliance.

The Need for Framework Filtering

The current control knowledgebase includes over 6,700 configuration checks mapped to dozens of frameworks, including the Center for Internet Security (CIS) benchmarks, the Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (CObIT) 4.0 and 4.1, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), etc.  These extensive mappings create a large number on control/mapping pairs available in the subscription.  For the majority of organizations that require only a subset of this data, the current data is too large to consume.

Filtering Frameworks with Policy Compliance

In order to limit the number of control/mapping pairs, QualysGuard 6.17 introduces the capability to limit which frameworks are displayed in the subscription and/or reports.  Each filter is described in detail below:

Subscription Filter

A subscription level filter will reduce the number of frameworks available for view in the subscription, which includes control search, reports, and the control API. Applying this filter will not filter the Controls knowledgebase, just the framework mappings visible in the subscription.

All available frameworks are enabled by default in the subscription. Change which frameworks are visible by selecting Setup/Frameworks… from the menu. Once the frameworks have been filtered, the following areas of the subscription will be affected:

  1. The Control API will limit the framework mappings in the output when the parameter “details=All” is set.
  2. The Search dialog within the Controls knowledgebase will limit the framework mappings based on the subscription settings.
  3. The Report Templates will limit the framework mappings based on the subscription settings if the Glossary or External Mappings sections are selected.

Report Template Filter

Frameworks are filtered in reports based on the subscription settings, but this feature also allows additional filtering in reports. The report level filter will reduce the number of frameworks available in the reports only.

All available frameworks in the subscription are enabled by default in reports. Change which frameworks are visible by selecting the new tab, Frameworks, in the report template.  Once the frameworks have been filtered, reports using this template will only show the selected frameworks in the Glossary or External Mappings sections, if selected.

Demo and Technical Paper

To see a demo of these steps, please view the Filter Framework Demo.

For full technical details on Filter Frameworks, please download the QualysGuard Tips and Techniques, Filter Frameworks Document.

Share your Comments

Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *