The NIST Compliance for Government Contractor

Definition of NIST Compliance

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is non-regulatory government agency that develops technology, merits, and standards to drive innovation and economic competitiveness at U.S based organizations in the science and technology industry. As part of this effort, NIST produces standards and guidelines to help agencies meet the requirements of Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA). NIST also assists those agencies in protecting their information and information System though cost effective programs. Specially, develops Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) in congruence with FISMA. The Secretary of Commerce approves FIPS, with which Federal agencies must comply federal agencies may not waive the use of standards. NIST also provides guidance documents and recommendations through its Special Publications. The Officer Management and Budget (OMB) policies require that agencies must comply with NIST guidance, unless they are national security programs and systems.

NIST Compliance for government contractor

Generally speaking, NIST guidance provides the set of standards for recommended security controls for information system at federal agencies. These standards are endorsed by the government, and companies comply with NIST standards because they encompass security best practice controls across a range of industries an- example widely adopted NIST 800-171 Compliance for government contractor standards is the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. NIST standards are based on best practices from several security documents, organizations, and publications, and are designed as a framework for federal agencies and programs requiring stringent security measures.

In many case complying with NIST guidelines and recommendations will help federal agencies ensure compliance with order regulations, such as HIPAA, FISMA, or SOX. NIST guideline are often developed to help agencies meet specific regulatory compliance requirements NIST has outlined nine steps for NIST compliance for government contractor:

  • Categorize the data and information you need to protect
  • Develop a baseline for the minimum controls required to protect that information
  • Conduct risk assessments to refine your baseline controls
  • Document your baseline controls in a written security plan
  • Roll out security controls to your information systems
  • Once implemented, monitor performance to measure the efficacy of security controls
  • Determine agency-level risk based on your assessment of security controls
  • Authorize the information system for processing
  • Continuously monitor your security controls

Requirements NIST Compliance for government Contractor

Government contractor initially faced a deadline to attain NIST compliance with all the security requirements in NIST compliance for government contractor. There are few measures and standards that are must followed by a government contractor. . Failure in this may cause an affect in any dealing with these agencies, including severance of contract. If you missed the deadline then you could be at the risk of losing contract and relationships with the agencies. There are few rules and regulations set by NIST services. In order to attain NIST compliance for government contractor, contractor need to fulfill the requirements and standards set by NIST 800-171 services. The requirement are given bellow.

  • Access Control
  • Awareness and Training
  • Audit and Accountability
  • Configuration Management
  • Identification and Authentication
  • Incident Response
  • Maintenance
  • Media Protection
  • Personnel Security
  • Physical Protection
  • Risk Assessment
  • Security Assessment
  • System and Communications Protection
  • System and Information Integrity

Benefits of NIST Compliance for a government Contractor

Some of the benefits of NIST compliance for government contractor includes:

  • Risk management
  • Reduces risk of data breaches
  • Reduced risk from insider threats
  • Best practice for data access policies
  • A common framework and methodology for managing risk
  • Scalable security approach to protecting sensitive data