A Guide to NIST SP 800-53: 20 Steps to Compliance

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If you didn’t think the world of federal bureaucracy and security compliance was complicated enough, say hello to NIST Special Publication 800-53, a set of security standards and controls developed to help US federal agencies meet the requirements of the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA). FISMA itself is a law that outlines the security controls that agencies need to comply with in order to secure their information security programs. 

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Of course, NIST SP 800-53 isn’t just adopted by federal agencies today, but by private organizations looking to optimize and improve their software security posture. It contains a comprehensive list of security controls, best practices, and other guidelines to build resilient networks and software.

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While the NIST SP 800-53 specifies over a thousand controls spread out across 20 control groups, each of which focus on a different aspect of security and privacy concerns. We’re going to explore each of these 20 control groups in the guide.

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1. Access Control

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This is usually the first step in any security program — limiting users’ access to resources and system components. Any given user should have access only to the resources they’re authorized to interact with, and nothing more. This can go even deeper, with access control policies that specify whether a user has permissions to view, modify, or delete data on the system.

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To implement access control across your network, you need to:

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• Define roles and responsibilities within the organization.
• Implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), ensuring that users only have access to information necessary for their job functions.
• Use multi-factor authentication (MFA) for sensitive systems.
• Ensure periodic reviews of access permissions to remove outdated privileges.

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2. Awareness and Training

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One of the most valuable things you can give your employees is skills. Not only does security training improve the baseline security posture across every part of your organization, it also makes process more efficient.

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3. Audit and Accountability

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The next logical step for your security program is to have some visibility into your environments by performing audits across the network, and generating detailed logs and reports corresponding to event triggers. 

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These event logs need to be stored securely and analyzed on a regular basis to detect anomalies in the system. Here are some steps you can take to achieve this:

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• Enable logging of all security-relevant activities across systems.
• Ensure logs are stored securely and retained for a sufficient duration.
• Implement tools that analyze logs for unusual activity.
• Develop procedures for reviewing logs and escalating issues based on defined criteria.

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4. Assessment, Authorization, and Monitoring

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Two of the most important pieces of the security puzzle are analyzing your software and environments for security vulnerabilities, and monitoring your network traffic to detect suspicious activity. 

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These activities are essential for understanding the potential threats to your software systems, allowing you to plan out the process of identifying and fixing vulnerabilities.

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• Conduct regular security control assessments and risk assessments.
• Establish an authorization process for new systems and significant changes.
• Implement continuous monitoring tools to assess compliance in real-time.
• Perform annual reviews and updates of all authorization documents.

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5. Configuration Management

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Misconfigured security controls are the leading cause of vulnerabilities in cloud and containerized systems. Your organization’s security program needs to include: identifying the right set of security policies, configuring tools properly, and managing unauthorized configurations and devices.

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• Develop and enforce baseline configurations for all systems and devices.
• Use automated tools to ensure configurations remain consistent.
• Implement a change management process to review and approve any modifications to system configurations.
• Conduct regular vulnerability scans to detect misconfigurations.

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6. Contingency Planning

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Planning ahead isn’t just reserved for your long-term security goals. You should also have a proper game plan ready for when disaster strikes: what if a major data breach occurs, or an essential part of your network suddenly goes down? You need to have a disaster recovery plan that accounts for a variety of worst-case scenarios. 

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• Develop a contingency plan that outlines procedures for disaster recovery and business continuity.
• Identify critical systems and prioritize recovery efforts for them.
• Test the contingency plan periodically through drills and exercises.
• Ensure backups are stored securely and tested for integrity regularly.

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7. Identification and Authentication

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How do you ensure that a user really is who they say they are? For your access control policies to work as intended, you also need to ensure that your authentication mechanisms are secure enough to prevent an attacker from hijacking someone else’s account to gain access.

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• Implement strong password policies, including the use of MFA.
• Enforce unique user identification (no shared accounts).
• Use cryptographic methods to secure authentication mechanisms.
• Periodically review and disable inactive user accounts.

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8. Incident Response

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A well thought-out incident response program is designed to detect and stop/isolate a security incident or breach as early as possible. The goal is to reduce the damage an attacker can do as much as possible, if not completely prevent it. This is where network monitoring, logging, and analysis comes in handy since you can use all that historical data to set up alarms that trigger when suspicious activity is detected. 

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• Develop and document an incident response plan (IRP) that includes communication and escalation procedures.
• Train personnel on incident response processes.
• Establish mechanisms to detect and report potential security incidents (e.g., IDS/IPS, SIEM).
• Conduct incident response drills and adjust the IRP as needed based on lessons learned.

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9. Maintenance

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Once all your security protocols and configurations are in place, your team should go into maintenance mode. This means auditing event logs to check for anomalies, regularly updating firmware and tools, and running inspection tools throughout the environment. This would be done to minimize the risk of operational outages and ensure systems aren’t outdated.

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• Document and schedule regular maintenance activities for all systems.
• Implement secure procedures for remote maintenance.
• Log and monitor maintenance activities to detect unauthorized changes.
• Review maintenance policies annually and update them to reflect current practices.

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10. Media Protection

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Whether you’re dealing with physical media (disks, drives, documents) or digital media (files, secrets), you need to implement policies that cover the use, storage, modification, and safe destruction of media and files. Attackers can recover data even from badly damaged hard drives, so properly disposing of such content is imperative.

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• Implement encryption for sensitive data stored on portable media (e.g., USB drives, external hard drives).
• Establish policies for secure media disposal (e.g., shredding, degaussing).
• Control physical access to media storage locations.
• Label and track media to prevent unauthorized access.

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11. Physical and Environmental Protection

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Even if your online infrastructure is highly secure, your physical hardware may be at risk if you haven’t properly secured devices and facilities. You need to consider controls restricting physical access, monitoring systems, and responses to physical threats.

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• Control physical access to all data centers and sensitive areas.
• Install surveillance cameras, access control systems, and intrusion detection systems.
• Protect systems from environmental hazards (e.g., temperature, humidity, fire, flood).
• Regularly test physical security controls (e.g., badge systems, alarm systems).

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12. Planning

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Develop a plan to manage security over the entire lifecycle of a system, from systems architecture, to management processes, to creating baseline system settings.

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• Develop a comprehensive security plan that outlines how security controls will be implemented, assessed, and monitored.
• Establish timelines and resources for maintaining system security over its lifecycle.
• Ensure security is considered during system acquisition, development, and decommissioning.
• Periodically review the security plan and update it as needed.

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13. Program Management

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Your information security program isn’t just one-and-done deal. It requires constant revision and refinement, which in itself is a discipline your organization needs to follow. Everything from a risk management strategy to the critical infrastructure plan need to be understood as early as possible.

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• Establish a central security governance structure that oversees and manages all security-related activities.
• Define security roles, responsibilities, and reporting structures.
• Implement metrics to track the performance of the security program.
• Ensure the security program aligns with business objectives and regulatory requirements.

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14. Personnel Security

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Let’s say you’ve finally managed to build an all-round solid security program, filling in all the cracks and making your systems resilient. But what if the weak link in your system isn’t the software, but the humans who interact with it? You need to ensure that all individuals operating in your network are trustworthy, and provide security training to every member of your team.

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• Conduct background checks on all personnel before granting access to sensitive systems.
• Implement security training and awareness programs for all employees.
• Terminate access immediately when an employee leaves the organization or no longer requires access.
• Periodically review and update personnel security policies.

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15. Personally Identifiable Information (PII) Processing and Transparency

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This one should be pretty self-explanatory. Any PII in your system should be considered sensitive information, and you need to store, modify, delete, and transmit this data with the utmost care and security.

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• Implement data protection measures such as encryption and anonymization for PII.
• Develop a privacy policy that explains how PII is collected, processed, and protected.
• Provide users with mechanisms to access, correct, or delete their PII.
• Conduct regular audits to ensure compliance with privacy policies and regulations.

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16. Risk Assessment 

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In order to build the most effective security program, it’s necessary to understand exactly what kind of risks you’re likely to encounter in your environment. Which assets are at most risk? What are your operational weaknesses? What vulnerabilities are regularly causing problems? All of these factor into your organization’s risk profile.

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• Conduct regular risk assessments to identify potential threats, vulnerabilities, and impacts.
• Prioritize risks based on their likelihood and potential impact.
• Implement mitigating controls to reduce high-risk areas.
• Review and update the risk assessment annually or when significant changes occur.

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17. System and Services Acquisition

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Once your organization gets used to a particular set of systems and processes, it can be hard to adapt when there’s a big change. You need to develop a robust program that accounts for third-party software/tools and implementing new systems and services.

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• Develop and include security requirements in all system procurement contracts.
• Ensure third-party vendors comply with organizational security policies.
• Perform security assessments on third-party services before acquisition.
• Establish service-level agreements (SLAs) that cover security responsibilities.

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18. System and Communications Protection 

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No organization works in a vacuum anymore, and every team relies on collaboration and communication between different systems and devices. You need to develop controls that establish system boundaries and safely manage communications across networks, ensuring system integrity at all times.

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• Implement encryption for all sensitive communications.
• Use firewalls and intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS) to monitor and control traffic.
• Segregate sensitive systems and networks to limit unauthorized access.
• Regularly test system defenses through vulnerability assessments and penetration testing.

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19. System and Information Integrity

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Viruses, malware, and malicious code are an ever-present threat to your systems. Your organization needs to establish protocols and protections that mitigate the danger of a potential attack. After all, social engineering and phishing are the most common ways companies get breached today.

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• Implement anti-virus, anti-malware, and integrity-checking solutions across systems.
• Patch and update systems regularly to address known vulnerabilities.
• Perform regular data integrity checks to ensure accuracy.
• Monitor systems for any suspicious activity that could compromise integrity.

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20. Supply Chain Risk Management

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The modern software supply chain is full of open source and third party software, libraries, and components. Without proper safeguards, an insecure component—even one that’s nested within another component itself—can provide attackers with a way to compromise your environment and take control.

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• Assess the security practices of suppliers and service providers.
• Include security requirements in all contracts with suppliers.
• Monitor supply chain risks throughout the lifecycle of the relationship.
• Implement security controls that address supply chain vulnerabilities, such as secure delivery, inspections, and vendor audits.

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We have the skills your team needs to get NIST SP 800-53 certified

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With hundreds of hands-on courses and challenges in secure coding, cloud security, and DevSecOps, AppSecEngineer offers everything your team needs to achieve a NIST SP 800-53 certification. 

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