The Ultimate Guide to NIST SP 800-53 and FedRAMP: Securing Federal Information

Do you find it hard to understand FedRAMP and NIST SP 800-53 and how they relate to FISMA?

If your answer is yes, you are not alone.

In this article, you will learn how these frameworks shape the security landscape for Federal Information Systems and Cloud Service Providers.

Let’s dive right into it!

Article updated on December 23rd, 2023

Table of Contents

1. What is NIST SP 800-53?
2. FedRAMP program
3. FedRAMP and NIST SP 800-53 controls
4. Selecting controls
5. Enhancing understanding and implementation of security controls
6. Understanding FedRAMP: Streamlining cloud compliance for federal agencies
7. FedRAMP authorization process 
8. Streamlining compliance management with StandardFusion

What is NIST SP 800-53?

NIST Special Publication 800-53 is a special security and privacy standard that created sets of controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations. The NIST is a non-regulatory agency of the U.S. Commerce Department and was established to encourage and assist innovation and science by promoting and maintaining a set of industry standards.

Let’s dig a little deeper.

NIST SP 800-53 is a set of standards and guidelines to help federal agencies and contractors meet the requirements set by the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA).

The latest update, Revision 5 of NIST SP 800-53 marks a significant update in the standard’s history.

This update isn’t just about adding new controls; it’s a comprehensive reevaluation to address emerging and evolving cybersecurity threats.

Rev. 5 introduces enhancements in areas such as privacy controls and supply chain risk management, reflecting the latest developments in the cybersecurity landscape.

ID	Family	ID	Family
AC	Access Control	PE	Physical and Environmental Protection
AT	Awareness and Training	PL	Planning
AU	Audit and Accountability	PM	Program Management
CA	Assessment, Authorization, and Monitoring	PS	Personnel Security
CM	Configuration Management	PT	PII Processing and Transparency
CP	Contingency Planning	RA	Risk Assessment
IA	Identification and Authentication	SA	System and Services Acquisition
IR	Incident Response	SC	System and Communications Protection
MA	Maintenance	SI	System and Information Integrity
MP	Media Protection	SR	Supply Chain Risk Management

FedRAMP Program

FedRAMP is a U.S. government program that standardizes the security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring of cloud products and services. It aims to accelerate the adoption of secure cloud solutions across the federal government.

FedRAMP uses NIST 800-53 controls as the baseline for its security requirements. In short, this means that cloud service providers seeking FedRAMP authorization must demonstrate compliance with the security controls outlined in NIST 800-53.

FedRAMP uses a three-tiered approach (Low, Moderate, and High impact levels) to categorize cloud services based on the sensitivity of the data they handle. Each impact level has its own set of security controls, derived from NIST 800-53.

This categorization ensures that security measures are aligned with the specific risk profiles of different systems, allowing for a more targeted and effective approach to cybersecurity.

FedRAMP and NIST SP 800-53 Controls

As we mentioned NIST 800-53 Rev. 5 includes a set of security controls organized into families.

Here is a brief overview of the 20 control families:

1) Access Control (AC)

Restrict and manage access to information systems and data.

2) Awareness and Training (AT)

Promote security awareness and provide training programs to enhance the knowledge and capabilities of personnel, reducing security risks associated with human factors.

3) Audit and Accountability (AU)

Ensure accountability, detect incidents, and support investigations.

4) Assessment, Authorization, and Monitoring (CA)

This control family focuses on the processes of assessing and authorizing information systems for use, along with continuous monitoring to ensure ongoing compliance and security.

5) Configuration Management (CM)

Establish and maintain a secure baseline configuration for information systems.

6) Contingency Planning (CP)

CP is designed to establish effective measures for preparing and responding to disruptions in information system operations. The goal is to ensure the availability and integrity of critical systems and data during and after incidents.

7) Identification and Authentication (IA)

The Identification and Authentication control family aims to establish and enforce processes that uniquely identify and verify the identity of users, devices, and processes accessing information systems. This is crucial for ensuring that only authorized entities gain access to system resources.

8) Incident Response (IR)

Prepare for, detect, respond to, and recover from security incidents.

9) Maintenance (MA)

System maintenance addresses the information security aspects of the system maintenance program and applies to all types of maintenance to system components conducted by cloud providers.

10) Media Protection (MP)

This control family focuses on safeguarding physical and digital media containing information. The objective is to prevent unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction of sensitive information stored on various types of media.

11) Physical and Environmental Protection (PE)

This control family includes controls and guidelines to address the security of physical spaces, equipment, and environmental conditions. Moreover, this encompasses measures to safeguard information systems against physical threats, environmental hazards, and unauthorized access.

12) Planning (PL)

Planning control family refers to a set of controls that focus on establishing and maintaining an organization-wide risk management framework and processes. Furthermore, the objective of the Planning control family is to provide a structured approach to managing risk, ensuring that organizations can identify, assess, and mitigate potential risks to their information systems effectively.

13) Program Management (PM)

This control family defines a set of requirements that focus on establishing and maintaining an organization-wide information security program. The objective is to ensure that an organization has a structured and comprehensive approach to managing information security, encompassing policies, procedures, and governance mechanisms.

14) Personnel Security (PS)

It focuses on establishing and maintaining processes to manage the security of individuals who have access to information systems and data. At last, the objective of the Personnel Security control family is to ensure that individuals with access to sensitive information are trustworthy, reliable, and have the appropriate level of integrity to safeguard the organization’s assets.

15) PII Processing and Transparency (PT)

Personally identifiable information processing and transparency policy and procedures address the controls in the PT family that are implemented within systems and organizations. The risk management strategy is an important factor in establishing such policies and procedures. Policies and procedures contribute to security and privacy assurance

16) Risk Assessment (RA)

Identify, assess, and manage risks to organizational operations and assets.

17) Systems and Service Acquisition (SA)

Its objectives are establishing security controls and measures during the acquisition, development, and implementation of information systems and services. The goal is to ensure that security considerations are integrated throughout the entire life cycle of systems and services, from the initial planning and acquisition stages to deployment and ongoing operations.

18) System and Communications Protection (SC)

Protect the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of information during system and data communication processes.

19) System and information integrity (SI)

It focuses on protecting information systems and the integrity of the information processed, stored, and transmitted by those systems. Moreover, the controls in this family aim to ensure that systems operate securely, detect and respond to unauthorized changes, and maintain the integrity of information throughout its lifecycle.

20) Supply Chain Risk Management (SR)

Manage and mitigate risks associated with the supply chain by addressing the need to manage and mitigate risks associated with the supply chain, which includes processes, people, technology, and other resources involved in the development, delivery, and maintenance of information systems.

Now, for FedRAMP compliance, controls and its associated enhancements are applicable based on the level of risk. Controls could be:

Applicable at All Levels:

• Some controls in NIST SP 800-53 are relevant for all impact levels. For example, AC-14 (Permitted Actions without Identification or Authentication) might still apply across all levels, but it’s essential to review the latest revision for any changes in control applicability or enhancements.

For Specific Impact Levels:

• Certain controls are designed only for Moderate and High-impact levels. For instance, AC-12 (Session Termination) may continue to be relevant primarily for these levels, but again, verification with the latest Rev. 5 document is recommended to confirm its current categorization.

With Level-Specific Enhancements:

• Controls like AC-17 (Remote Access) often come with additional enhancements that vary depending on the impact level. In Rev. 5, there could be new enhancements or alterations in existing ones, tailoring the control more effectively to different security requirements.

Selecting Controls

The choice and execution of security and privacy controls must align with the goals of information security and privacy programs and their approaches to risk management. These objectives and associated risks may operate independently or intersect depending on the context.

Federal information security programs aim to safeguard information and information systems, ensuring confidentiality, integrity, and availability by preventing unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction.

Additionally, they manage security risks and ensure compliance with relevant security requirements. On the other hand, federal privacy programs focus on mitigating risks to individuals related to the processing of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and ensuring compliance with applicable privacy requirements.

When a system handles PII, both the information security and privacy programs share the responsibility for addressing security risks associated with the PII in that system. Given this shared responsibility, the controls chosen to manage these security risks are generally consistent, irrespective of their classification as security or privacy controls in control baselines or program/system plans.

Keep in mind:

There might be instances where the selection and/or implementation of a control or control enhancement impact a program’s ability to meet its objectives and manage associated risks. The control discussion section may highlight specific security and/or privacy considerations, offering organizations insights to factor in as they determine the most effective approach to implement the control.

However, these considerations are not exhaustive.

Enhancing Understanding and Implementation of Security Controls

In NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, each control offers a “Discussion” section. This section is instrumental in offering in-depth information about specific security controls. This guidance serves as an essential tool for organizations to accurately define, develop, and implement these controls, tailored to their unique operational contexts.

”Discussion” provides a more granular view of each control, detailing its intended purpose and application. This is particularly useful when a control needs to be adapted or enhanced to fit specific business requirements or to address particular aspects of an organization’s risk assessment.

By reviewing these details, organizations can ensure that their implementation of controls is both effective and relevant to their specific security needs.

This section not only clarifies the control’s function but also offers insights into its broader implications within an organizational framework. For controls that have broader applications or those that need to be fine-tuned for specific scenarios, the supplemental guidance can be particularly helpful.

It provides a comprehensive understanding of how a control operates, which is crucial for both implementing the control effectively and ensuring it aligns with the organization’s overall security posture.

Control Enhancements

The section on control enhancements provides descriptions of security and privacy capabilities that enhance a foundational control. These enhancements are assigned sequential numbers within each control for easy identification when chosen to complement the base control.

Each enhancement is accompanied by a brief subtitle indicating its intended function or capability.

Control enhancements are intended to be used in conjunction with their corresponding base controls. If a control enhancement is chosen, the associated base control must also be selected and implemented.

The references section provides a compilation of applicable laws, policies, standards, guidelines, websites, and other valuable references pertinent to a specific control or its enhancement. This section also includes hyperlinks to publications for obtaining additional information related to control development, implementation, assessment, and monitoring.

Understanding FedRAMP: Streamlining Cloud Compliance for Federal Agencies

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) is a pivotal framework that has reshaped how federal agencies and Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) approach cloud computing services.

Essentially, it adapts the principles of the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) for the cloud environment, bringing a standardized approach to security in this increasingly important area.

FedRAMP operates on a “do once, use many times” framework. This approach is designed to simplify and standardize the process of achieving FISMA compliance for Cloud Service Providers (CSPs).

Instead of undergoing multiple individual assessments, CSPs can complete a single, comprehensive assessment whose results are applicable across various federal agencies.

This not only streamlines the process but also significantly reduces redundancy and costs.

Benefits and Goals

FedRAMP’s standardized approach to security and risk assessment for both cloud technologies and federal agencies, brings key advantages, such as:

• Streamlines processes, minimizes inconsistencies, and enhances cost-effectiveness by eliminating redundant efforts.
  
• Establishes a collaborative partnership between the public and private sectors, fostering innovation and the advancement of more secure information technologies.
  
• Facilitates the rapid adoption of cloud computing within the federal government by establishing transparent standards and processes for security authorizations. Therefore, this allows agencies to leverage security authorizations on a government-wide scale.
  
• Expand the utilization of secure cloud technologies across government agencies.
  
• Improve the framework for securing and authorizing cloud technologies within the government.
  
• Cultivate and strengthen partnerships with stakeholders involved in the FedRAMP initiative.

FedRAMP Authorization Process 

There are two pathways to achieve FedRAMP Authorization: one involves securing a provisional authorization through the Joint Authorization Board (JAB), while the other entails obtaining authorization through a specific agency.

In the Agency Authorization route, agencies have the flexibility to collaborate directly with a Cloud Service Provider (CSP) for authorization at their discretion. In instances where a CSP opts to engage with an agency to pursue an Authority to Operate (ATO), the CSP will actively participate in and navigate the FedRAMP Authorization process alongside the respective agency.

The process is broken down into three phases:

1) Preparation 

Readiness Assessment: In the Readiness Assessment phase, a Cloud Service Provider (CSP) has the option to pursue the FedRAMP Ready designation, recommended for the Agency Authorization process. In short, to attain this designation, the CSP collaborates with an accredited Third Party Assessment Organization (3PAO) to conduct a Readiness Assessment of its service offering. The resulting Readiness Assessment Report (RAR) outlines the CSP’s ability to fulfill federal security requirements.

Pre-Authorization: At this stage, the CSP should have a fully operational system and committed leadership aligned with the FedRAMP process. The CSP engages with FedRAMP by submitting a CSP Information Form and determines the security categorization of its data using the FedRAMP Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 199 Categorization Template.

The Pre-Authorization process includes:

• Ensuring a fully built and functional system.
• Confirming commitment from the leadership team for FedRAMP compliance.
• Engaging with FedRAMP through the intake process.
• Determining the security categorization of the data using relevant templates and guidelines.

2) Authorization

During the Full Security Assessment step, the 3PAO performs an independent audit of the system. Prior to this step, a CSP should ensure that the SSP is complete and has been reviewed and approved by the agency.

3) Continuous Monitoring

In the ongoing monitoring phase, the Cloud Service Provider (CSP) is obligated to furnish regular security reports (such as vulnerability scans, updated Plans of Action and Milestones, annual security assessments, incident reports, significant change requests, etc.) to all agency customers.

More comprehensive information is available in the Continuous Monitoring Strategy Guide [PDF – 1.1MB].

Every agency utilizing the service assesses the continuous monitoring reports on a monthly and annual basis. CSPs leverage the FedRAMP secure repository to publish monthly monitoring materials, ensuring convenient access and seamless sharing with agency representatives. 

Streamlining Compliance Management with StandardFusion

Navigating FedRAMP and NIST SP 800-53 compliance is not just about adhering to regulations — it’s about building trust. StandardFusion makes this journey straightforward and transparent.

What can help you?

• Clear Compliance Path: With StandardFusion, CSPs demonstrate a commitment to security, showcasing adherence to the highest standards.
  
• Reliable Monitoring: Continuous monitoring tools provide real-time insights, reinforcing the reliability of services to clients and organizations.
  
• Confidence in Security: By efficiently managing compliance, CSPs convey a strong message of trust and security to their stakeholders.

StandardFusion is more than a tool; it’s a trust-building partner in your compliance journey. Request a demo to see how we can transform your compliance management into an efficient, reliable process.