12 Account Reviews

Account reviews are periodic attestations that the accounts on your systems should still exist, for example a quarterly privileged access review in which a manager confirms every administrator account on every system. An account review program groups the accounts that must be reviewed together. Reviewers work through the list, keeping the access that is still needed and disabling the rest, and TraxrGRC records the reviewer's name and the time on every decision.

The module is used by the people who run access reviews (typically the GRC team or IT security), by the system and team owners who make the decisions, and by auditors who read the result as evidence. This chapter covers creating programs, loading accounts one by one or from CSV, recording decisions, and exporting the evidence.

12.1 The programs list

Open Account Reviews from the navigation. The page lists every program you can see.

The Account Reviews list with the two Q3 programs and the archived Q2 program, showing pending and total item counts.
Figure 12.1. The Account Reviews list with the two Q3 programs and the archived Q2 program, showing pending and total item counts.
ColumnWhat it shows
TitleThe program's name. Click it to open the program.
StatusActive (green badge) or Archived (gray badge). Filterable.
OwnerThe owning person, or the owning group's name when no person is set.
ItemsAn amber N pending badge plus the total item count (for example "3 pending 15 total"). A zero pending count shows as a plain 0.
CreatedThe date and time the program was created.

The search box filters by title or description. Export CSV downloads the programs that match your current filters, which is useful as review evidence. Saved stores and reapplies filter sets, as on every list in TraxrGRC.

The dashboard widget Account review items charts pending, kept and disabled items across all the programs you can see (see Getting Started, The Dashboard).

12.2 Creating a program

  1. Click New program. The New account review program dialog opens.

  2. Complete the fields:

    FieldWhat it means
    TitleRequired. The program's name, for example "Quarterly privileged access review".
    DescriptionFree text explaining scope, frequency or method.
    OwnerThe person accountable for the review. Defaults to "None".
    Owner groupA group accountable for the review. You can set either or both.
  3. Click Create program.

The New account review program dialog with its Title, Description, Owner and Owner group fields.
Figure 12.2. The New account review program dialog with its Title, Description, Owner and Owner group fields.

Creating, editing and deleting programs is recorded in the audit log (see Administration & Settings).

12.3 The program page

Open a program from the list.

Under the title and status badge, four summary cards show:

CardWhat it shows
OwnerThe owning person, with the owning group underneath.
Pending itemsThe number of items still to decide (amber when above zero), with the kept and disabled counts underneath.
StatusActive or Archived.
CreatedWhen the program was created.

Below the cards are the Items, Comments, Attachments and History tabs, followed by Custom Fields, which shows any custom fields your administrator has defined for review programs. Items opens by default.

The Q3 privileged access review program on its Items tab, with the summary cards and a mix of pending, kept and disabled accounts.
Figure 12.3. The Q3 privileged access review program on its Items tab, with the summary cards and a mix of pending, kept and disabled accounts.

The item table has these columns: System, Username, Person, Access, Status, Note, Reviewed by and Reviewed at. With update rights you also see a selection checkbox on each row and, on pending rows, the Keep and Disable buttons. You can filter by status (Pending, Kept, Disabled) and search by system, username or person.

12.4 Adding items to a program

You need the accountReviews:update permission to add or import items. Both buttons are in the toolbar above the item table on the Items tab.

12.4.1 Adding a single account

  1. Click Add item. The Add account dialog opens.

  2. Complete the fields:

    FieldWhat it means
    SystemRequired. The system the account exists on, for example "GitHub".
    UsernameRequired. The account's login, for example "jsnow".
    PersonOptional. The person behind the account, for example "Jane Snow".
    AccessOptional. A short summary of what the account can do, for example "Organization owner".
  3. Click Add item. The new item starts as Pending.

The Add account dialog with the System, Username, Person and Access fields.
Figure 12.4. The Add account dialog with the System, Username, Person and Access fields.

12.4.2 Importing accounts from CSV

  1. Click Import CSV. The Import accounts from CSV dialog opens.
  2. Either choose a .csv file or paste CSV text into the Or paste CSV here box. A chosen file's contents appear in the box, so you can check them before importing.
  3. Click Import items. A successful import reports how many items were added; every imported item starts as Pending.
The Import accounts from CSV dialog, with a file picker and the paste box showing the expected header row.
Figure 12.5. The Import accounts from CSV dialog, with a file picker and the paste box showing the expected header row.

The format rules:

12.5 Reviewing items: keep or disable

Each item is decided as kept (the access is still required) or disabled (the access should be removed). You need accountReviews:update to record either decision, per row or in bulk.

12.5.1 Deciding one item

  1. On a pending row, click Keep or Disable. The Keep access or Disable access dialog opens.
  2. Optionally enter a Note. A note is recommended; the placeholders show the level of detail expected ("e.g. Access still required for the role." or "e.g. Left the team; access revoked in the IdP.").
  3. Click Mark kept or Mark disabled.
The Keep access dialog for a pending account, with the optional note field.
Figure 12.6. The Keep access dialog for a pending account, with the optional note field.

12.5.2 Deciding items in bulk

  1. Tick the checkboxes on the rows you want. The header checkbox selects every row on the current page.
  2. Click Mark kept (N) or Mark disabled (N) in the toolbar. A badge next to the buttons shows how many rows are selected.

Bulk decisions do not ask for a note. A bulk action applies to every selected row, including rows already decided: the new decision replaces the earlier one, with your name and the current time, and clears any earlier note.

12.5.3 What a decision records

Every decision records your name and the current time on the item, plus the note if you entered one. The item's status badge changes to Kept (green) or Disabled (gray), the Note, Reviewed by and Reviewed at columns fill in, and the per-row buttons disappear (they appear only while an item is pending). The decision is written to the audit log against the program, and the pending counts on the program's summary card and on the programs list update immediately.

Recording a decision in TraxrGRC does not change the account on the source system. Disabling the account in the system itself remains your team's task; the note is the place to record that it was done.

Export CSV above the item table downloads all items matching the current filters, including who reviewed each one and when. This file is the usual evidence artifact for an auditor.

The web interface has no button for deleting a single item. An item added by mistake can be removed through the REST API (see REST API), or decided with a note explaining the error.

12.6 Comments, attachments and history

Every program has three more tabs:

The Comments tab of the Q3 privileged access review, with a reminder that three database accounts still await a decision.
Figure 12.7. The Comments tab of the Q3 privileged access review, with a reminder that three database accounts still await a decision.
The History tab of the Q3 privileged access review, listing each keep and disable decision with its actor and time.
Figure 12.8. The History tab of the Q3 privileged access review, listing each keep and disable decision with its actor and time.

12.7 Archiving, reactivating and deleting

The buttons at the top right of a program's page depend on your rights.

With accountReviews:update:

Archiving does not lock a program: anyone with update rights can still add and decide items on it.

With accountReviews:delete, Delete in the More actions menu (…) asks for confirmation ("Delete account review program?") and then permanently removes the program together with all its review items. This cannot be undone.

The archived Q2 privileged access review, showing the gray Archived badge and the Reactivate button.
Figure 12.9. The archived Q2 privileged access review, showing the gray Archived badge and the Reactivate button.

12.8 Who can do what

ActionPermission
See the programs list and a program's itemsaccountReviews:read (at the own level you only see programs owned by you or your groups)
Create programsaccountReviews:create
Add or import items, keep or disable items, comment, attach, edit, archive, reactivateaccountReviews:update (at the own level, on programs you own)
Delete programsaccountReviews:delete

Administrators can do everything.