Assessing Security Requirements for Controlled Unclassified Information

Ross, Ron; Dempsey, Kelley; Pillitteri, Victoria

doi:https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-171A

SP 800-171A

Assessing Security Requirements for Controlled Unclassified Information

Documentation Topics

Date Published: June 2018

Planning Note (4/13/2022):

The assessment procedures in SP 800-171A are available in multiple data formats. The PDF of SP 800-171A is the authoritative source of the assessment procedures. If there are any discrepancies noted in the content between the CSV, XLSX, and the SP 800-171A PDF, please contact sec-cert@nist.gov and refer to the PDF as the normative source.

CUI SSP template

** There is no prescribed format or specified level of detail for system security plans. However, organizations ensure that the required information in [SP 800-171 Requirement] 3.12.4 is conveyed in those plans.

Author(s)

Ron Ross (NIST), Kelley Dempsey (NIST), Victoria Pillitteri (NIST)

Abstract

The protection of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) resident in nonfederal systems and organizations is of paramount importance to federal agencies and can directly impact the ability of the federal government to successfully conduct its assigned missions and business operations. This publication provides federal and nonfederal organizations with assessment procedures and a methodology that can be employed to conduct assessments of the CUI security requirements in NIST Special Publication 800-171, Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Systems and Organizations. The assessment procedures are flexible and can be customized to the needs of the organizations and the assessors conducting the assessments. Security assessments can be conducted as self-assessments; independent, third-party assessments; or government-sponsored assessments and can be applied with various degrees of rigor, based on customer-defined depth and coverage attributes. The findings and evidence produced during the security assessments can facilitate risk-based decisions by organizations related to the CUI requirements.

Keywords

assessment; assessment method; assessment object; assessment procedure; assurance; basic security requirement; Controlled Unclassified Information; coverage; CUI Registry; depth; derived security requirement; Executive Order 13556; FISMA; NIST Special Publication 800-53; NIST Special Publication 800-53A; nonfederal organization; nonfederal system; security assessment; security control

Control Families

None selected

Documentation

Publication:
SP 800-171A (DOI)
Local Download

Supplemental Material:
Assessment Procedures Spreadsheet (xls)
Assessment Procedures CSV (other)
README for CSV (txt)
CUI SSP template **[see Planning Note] (word)
CUI Plan of Action template (word)

Other Parts of this Publication:
SP 800-171 Rev. 2

Related NIST Publications:
ITL Bulletin

Document History:
11/28/17: SP 800-171A (Draft)
02/20/18: SP 800-171A (Draft)
06/13/18: SP 800-171A (Final)

Topics

Security and Privacy
assurance; risk assessment; security controls

Laws and Regulations
Federal Information Security Modernization Act