Control Definition
Control Objective: Ensure the integrity of the database records for the SWIFT messaging interface or the customer connector and act upon results.
In-scope components:
- databases for messaging interface products, including a related hosted database
- databases for customer connector, including a related hosted database
Note: this requirement is not applicable for Architecture A1 if the infrastructure does not include a messaging interface and for Architecture A4 if there is no database linked to the customer connector.
Risk Drivers:
- loss of sensitive data integrity
Implementation Guidance
Control Statement:
A database integrity check is performed at regular intervals on databases that record SWIFT transactions and results are considered for appropriate resolving actions.
Control Context:
Database integrity checks allow unexpected modification to records stored within the database to be detected.
Implementation Guidelines:
The implementation guidelines are common methods to apply the relevant control. The guidelines are a helpful way to begin an assessment, but should never be considered as an "audit checklist" as each user’s implementation may vary. Therefore, in cases where some implementation guidelines elements are not present or partially covered, mitigations as well as particular environment specificities must be considered to properly assess the overall compliance adherence level (as per the suggested guidelines
or as per the alternatives).
- Database integrity check functionality is enabled to make sure integrity at record level (checksum or signature of the records) and confirm that there are no gaps in sequential transaction numbering. Options for implementations:
- Integrated into the messaging interface application
- Integrated into the database product where the related hosted database, including its supporting server, is protected similarly to a SWIFT-related component (see the CSP FAQ - SWIFT Knowledge Base article 5021823- for the relevant controls to consider).
Optional Enhancements:
- A full database integrity check is performed at regularly timed intervals, ideally every two weeks.
- The integrity check performs a full referential check on all records (for example, no orphan records between tables) and searches for any unexpectedly deleted records.
- A dedicated database instance is used for SWIFT purposes.
