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Tamper Detection

What is Tamper Detection?

Mechanisms that detect and alert on physical tampering with devices, enclosures, or seals protecting sensitive equipment or data.

Information Security

Each of these is named in at least one of the same controls as tamper detection. The number is how many controls name both.

What the standards actually require on tamper detection

Requirements naming tamper detection across 6 standards, quoted from the control text.

UR E27 requires equipment manufacturers to deliver CBS with logging + forensic readiness capabilities aligned with IEC 62443-4-2 CR 2.8-2.12 (Auditable events) + FR 6 (Timely Response to Events).

IACS-UR-E27-Logging-Forensics-EventCapture · IACS UR E27 - Equipment Logging + Forensic Readiness + Event Capture + Tamper Detection

Detect and respond to tampering of OT devices, cabinets, and network equipment through seals, sensors, alarms, and inspection procedures.

OT-PHYS-3 · Tamper Detection and Response
PCI DSS 4.01 control

A change- and tamper-detection mechanism is deployed for payment pages to alert personnel to unauthorized modifications to HTTP headers and contents of payment pages as received by the consumer browser.

11.6.1 · Payment page change and tamper detection
IEEE 16862 controls

Section 5.1 establishes electronic access account management capabilities required of IEDs. Per public IEEE 1686 + IEEE Std abstract + vendor capability statements (full IEEE text NOT reproduced): individual user accounts with unique identification (5.1) + no...

IEEE1686-Section5.1-AccessControl-Accounts-Roles-Password-Session-Remote · IEEE 1686 Section 5.1 - Electronic Access Account Management + Roles + Password + Failed Login + Session + Remote Access + Personnel

GLI-33 audit + logging + security + change + resilience. SIGNIFICANT EVENT LOGGING: every regulatorily significant event must be logged with timestamp (regulator-time-source-synced typically via NTP + Stratum-1) + actor + action + outcome + correlated session/...

GLI33-Audit-Logging-InfoSec-ChangeControl · GLI-33 Audit, Significant Event Logging, Information Security, Change Control, Resilience

Implement policies and procedures to protect ePHI from improper alteration or destruction. NIST recommends integrity controls including checksums, signed records, and tamper detection.

164.312(c)(1) · Integrity (Standard)

Questions people ask about tamper detection

What is Tamper Detection?
Mechanisms that detect and alert on physical tampering with devices, enclosures, or seals protecting sensitive equipment or data.
Why is Tamper Detection important for compliance?
Tamper Detection is a key concept in Information Security. Understanding tamper detection helps organizations meet regulatory requirements, reduce risk, and demonstrate due diligence during audits. Our compliance platform maps 686 frameworks with 311K cross-framework control mappings.
Which compliance frameworks address Tamper Detection?
Tamper Detection appears in the requirement text of IACS Unified Requirements E26/E27 - Cyber Resilience of Ships and On-Board Systems, NIST SP 800-82 Rev 3, PCI DSS 4.0, IEEE 1686, GLI-33 - Gaming Laboratories International Event Wagering Systems. Across these standards we have identified 9 controls that name it directly, each linked to the control text on the compliance platform.
Where can I learn more about Tamper Detection?
Explore our compliance framework pages to see how tamper detection applies across different standards and regulations. Our implementation guides provide step-by-step guidance, and the compliance platform offers AI-powered analysis of how this concept maps across 686 frameworks.

See how Tamper Detection applies across compliance frameworks

Our platform maps 686 frameworks with 311K cross-framework control mappings. Explore how this concept is addressed across standards.

Written and maintained by Gerard Blokdyk, The Art of Service.