Does your organization have documented policies and procedures for verifying critical hardware upgrades against unauthorized changes before implementation?

This control ensures that hardware upgrades are thoroughly inspected for potential tampering, unauthorized modifications, or supply chain compromises before being deployed in your environment. For example, firmware updates for network devices, server components, or security appliances should be verified for integrity and authenticity to prevent the introduction of backdoors or malicious code. Evidence could include a formal hardware change management procedure document that specifically addresses verification steps for detecting unauthorized changes, such as digital signature verification processes, hash comparison records, or vendor verification checklists used during recent critical hardware upgrades.