---
type: CisControl
id: https://w3id.org/lmodel/cis-controls/knowledge/controls/control-4
title: Control 4
description: "Control 4 of the CIS Controls, Version 8.1, which the edition file titles Secure settings for devices and software in the project's own words: it holds 12 Safeguards, 4.1 to 4.12, of which 7 are in Implementation Group 1, 11 in Implementation Group 2 and all 12 in Implementation Group 3."
cis_control_id: "4"
resource: https://www.cisecurity.org/controls/v8-1
definedBy:
  - https://w3id.org/lmodel/cis-controls/knowledge/references/cis-controls-guide
relatedTo:
  - https://w3id.org/lmodel/cis-controls/knowledge/glossary/control
sources:
  - id: cis-v8-1
    resource: https://www.cisecurity.org/controls/v8-1
    title: the guide this page offers, v8.1.2 of March 2025, read on 2026-10-30
  - id: edition
    resource: src/cis_controls/data/cis-controls-8.1.2.yaml
    title: Control 4 and its Safeguards
generated:
  by: process:ktl-librarian
  at: "2026-10-31T12:14:49Z"
status: draft
---

# Control 4

Control 4 is one of the 18 Controls of the CIS Controls, Version 8.1. CIS's guide, at its v8.1.2 revision, lists 12 Safeguards under it, numbered 4.1 to 4.12.[^cis-v8-1] The schema uses those numbers as their identifiers. Of the Safeguards, 7 are in Implementation Group 1, 11 in Implementation Group 2 and all 12 in Implementation Group 3. Its Safeguards are about the asset classes Devices (7), Data (2), Documentation (2) and Users (1).

This bundle leaves out CIS's name and description for the Control and CIS's text for its Safeguards, because CIS licenses that text under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; CIS's guide gives them, and [the guide's reference](../references/cis-controls-guide.md) says where to find it. The edition file gives the Control and each of its Safeguards a title and a description in the project's own words, written from what each requires.[^edition] For Control 4 they are:

- **Title:** Secure settings for devices and software
- **Description:** Setting up devices and software securely rather than as delivered, and keeping those settings in place over their lifetime.

[^cis-v8-1]: <https://www.cisecurity.org/controls/v8-1>, the guide this page offers, the Safeguards of Control 4
[^edition]: src/cis_controls/data/cis-controls-8.1.2.yaml, Control 4 and its Safeguards