Chain of custody for USB drives, laptops and removable media, recorded with a tap.
Put a signed NFC tag on each item. Technicians tap it with their phone at every check-out, scan, connection, hand-off and check-in, and confirm with their fingerprint. Your auditor gets one custody history per item, from first use to destruction.
| Time | Action | By | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|
| 07:52 | Checked out | J. Ortiz | Relay firmware update, authorized by M. Lee |
| 07:58 | Scanned | J. Ortiz | Clean. Definitions dated 11/14 |
| 08:31 | Connected | J. Ortiz | Asset WS-12, location SUB-07 |
| 09:05 | Disconnected | J. Ortiz | Asset WS-12 |
| 09:40 | Handed off | J. Ortiz | Accepted by K. Patel at 09:41 |
| 10:15 | Checked in | K. Patel | Cabinet, location SUB-07 |
Built for two kinds of audit
Electric utilities
NERC CIP-003-9 Attachment 1 Section 5, CIP-010-4 R4, CIP-011-3 R2
Custody records for transient cyber assets and removable media, made where the work happens. The scan method, tool, definitions date and result are recorded at the time, not rebuilt from spreadsheets the week before an audit.
Hospitals and health systems
HIPAA Security Rule §164.310(d)
A record of the movements of laptops, drives and devices that hold ePHI, and the person responsible for each. Hand-offs the receiver has to accept, and certificates for every wipe and destruction.
How it works
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Tag it
Each item gets a signed NFC tag. The tag proves each tap is real, so a copied link is refused.
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Tap it
Phone to tag, fingerprint, pick the action, submit. The app offers only the actions that make sense for that item right now.
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Report it
Pull the custody history, use log, exceptions or certificates for any period, as PDF, CSV or JSON.
What your auditor gets
- One custody history per item, from registration to destruction
- A use log with one row per connection
- An exceptions report: missing scans, expired hand-offs, broken seals, lost items
- Certificates of sanitization and destruction, with photos and their SHA-256
- Sealed, tagged bundles for drives going to a shredding vendor
- A data export they can check themselves
A record that shows if anyone changes it
Events are chained together by hash, and each day's chain head is emailed to your admins. A changed or deleted record breaks the chain. Exports come with a short script that checks everything without CustodyTap, so your auditor doesn't have to take our word for it.
Questions
What is a transient cyber asset?
Under NERC CIP, a transient cyber asset is a laptop, test set or similar device that can carry executable code and is connected to a BES Cyber System's network for 30 consecutive days or less. Removable media are USB drives and other storage that can carry code. CIP-003-9 Attachment 1 Section 5 and CIP-010-4 R4 cover how both are managed.
Does CustodyTap need BES Cyber System Information (BCSI)?
No. Items are tracked by asset code and location code, and free-text fields remind people to keep system names and addresses out.
Is there an app to install?
No. Tapping a tag opens CustodyTap in the phone's browser. People confirm each action with their phone's fingerprint or face unlock, using a passkey.
What happens if a hand-off isn't accepted?
The item stays with the person who had it, and the missed hand-off appears on the exceptions report.
Can our auditor check the records without you?
Yes. Events are hash-chained, and every data export includes a short script that checks the chain and every file in the export without CustodyTap.
Start a 90-day pilot on one site
We set up your organization, tag your first items and train your technicians. You keep your data.
dbrown@enthropicdata.com