As a government agency with non-regulatory authority, the National Institute of Standards and Technology provides a framework for organizations in the scientific and technological fields. According to OMB policies, NIST compliance is mandatory. A good check and balance is essential to organizations, especially in preventing cybercrime.
Federal agencies are recommended to comply with NIST's Cybersecurity Framework, which outlines best practices. A number of NIST Compliance aspects will be discussed in this article. The NIST regulations will be discussed in terms of their benefits, requirements, and guidelines to ensure their implementation.
The requirements of NIST Compliance
As part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's guidelines, NIST includes best practices for a host of fields. FISMA includes a section that requires federal agencies to follow guidelines on information security. Various laws and regulations, such as HIPAA and SOX, are met by NIST frameworks, which are vital to companies.
NIST's compliance regulations, also known as the 800 series, describe the information security policies and requirements of US federal agencies. Additionally, it helps to prioritize cyber assets, identify potential risks, and decide how to report suspicious activity.
It has a number of subclauses. This NIST SP 800-53 is concerned with defining the security controls federal systems must employ. Through continuous monitoring of controls recommended in 800-53, NIST SP 800-37 helps ensure real-time risk management. It was recently added to the list of draft special publications 800-171.
It clarifies their responsibilities during a data breach when third parties are provided with this document. Companies storing sensitive government data may be affected by this rule. Controlled Unclassified Information, or CUI, is protected by these regulations and is stored on computers or information systems of entities outside the federal government.
Companies interested in implementing the NIST Compliance of SP 800-171 guidelines must comply with the following 14 security requirements. Databases or programs should meet distinct tests associated with each category. In addition to ensuring CUI's security, these addresses are integral components of an integrated system. The following violations can be scanned with CloudEye and monitored by Cloudnosys:
- Access Token: Contains two types of control, based on the basic and derived elements of cloud security. As part of these guidelines, it is important to restrict system access and to control CUI flow.
- Awareness and Training: Managers and users must be made aware of potential threats. Training must address how to recognize and reduce threats.
- Audit and Accountability: As part of this requirement, organizations must keep system audit logs, figure out how to trace individual forms of information system usage, protect audit record data from deletion and modification, etc.
- Configuration Management: Organizing security baselines and inventories of organizational systems are needed to ensure compliance to this. Companies must track and review log changes, as well as control user-installed software.
- Identification and Authentication:
Organizations must identify and authenticate user processes and devices. A multi-factor authentication process should be put in place, as well as a strict password management program - Incident Response:
Toward this end, incident response capabilities should be established and tested
- Maintenance: Manage organizational processes, ensure tools are controlled, sanitize any equipment transported off site, and supervise maintenance activities with authorized personnel.
- Media Protection: CUI must be restricted, all media on which CUI is found must be destroyed before disposal, the use of portable storage must be prohibited, and backup must be protected confidentially.
- Personnel Security: Screen individuals before authorizing them to access CUI, and prevent physical access after they've transferred or been terminated
- Physical Protection: Ensure that physical facilities are protected and monitored, escort visitors, and establish safeguards
- Risk Assessment: Identify and remediate risks to operations regularly
- Security Assessment: Perform regular risk assessments, develop plans to correct deficiencies, and monitor security controls, etc.
- System and Communications : Ensure separate user functionality from system management, identify flaws in the system, update malicious code, etc.
- System and Information Integrity: Identify and report system vulnerabilities, update malicious code protection practices, perform periodic scans, etc.
Organizations facilitating the US Department of Defense specifically the business involved in the supply of products or services are required to meet the new guidelines mentioned for 800-171 compliance.
It is very crucial to become a NIST compliant as penalty will be raised on a contractor and as a result, one will lose the opportunities to serving the government.
The recent updates in the guidelines prioritize manage cyber security to demonstrate the government’s objective to ensure the protection of controlled unclassified information and avoid security breaches.
The new rules are laid down to encourage IT security practices among non-federal agencies or business partners to get NIST compliance & qualify for government contracts.
The importance of managed cyber security generalizes the mandate rules & regulation that every contractor is required to follow in order to match the standards of compliance.
The US DoD enlisted all the mandatory requirements & security rules that every contractor or business owner must follow.
With the advancement in technology, cybersecurity threats have also been increasingly on the rise and many hackers are looking to profit by selling CUI i.e.
This is the reason the Federal government has a vested interest in making sure that the sensitive data handled by the contractor's networks remain safe and secure.
The CUI acts as a roadmap to the plans and operations of the U.S., and in an effort to protect CUI, the Department of Defense (DoD) and other government bodies standardized guidelines laid out in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-717 regulate independent contractors.
The latest Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) relies heavily on the NIST and this is the reason many outfits face compliance deadlines.If you’re someone who wants to know “what is NIST SP 800-717 update and wondering whether you’re company or business really need to comply” then this article is just for you.
As a business owner, if your company holds electronic copies of any sensitive data that is the property of the United States Federal government and if the copies of this data are not identified properly as public then NIST 800-717 applies to you.
If the business purposes electronic copies of the Federal government data you are holding cannot be readily found on a government website, then it is almost considered as the CUI and this data must be protected in accordance with NIST 800-717.What is NIST 800-171 Compliance & Why Is It Important?The latest NIST standards must be met by those companies who stores, processes or transmits the potentially sensitive information for the GSA, DoD or NASA and other state or federal government agencies.
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