NIST 800-171 Security Compliance

If you’re a contractor involved in supply chains associated with government contracts, you know getting and keeping this work means complying with a number of security standards — including NIST 800-171. This NIST Special Publication provides recommended requirements for protecting the confidentiality of controlled unclassified information (CUI) in nonfederal systems and organizations.

38North’s comprehensive NIST Readiness Service is available to ensure your organization is meeting the compliance baseline. Any non-federal computer system must follow NIST 900-171 in order to store, process, or transmit Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) or provide security protection for such systems. Trust Us to Get You There.

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38North, Your Guide to NIST Compliance

As the world’s most experienced cloud advisory team, we have assisted a number of organizations to ensure their services and products are in scope for NIST 800-171 assessment and compliance. Our expert advisory team provides a full range of NIST compliance services to help your team establish the necessary controls and documentation, and avoid the mistakes and rework that accompany NIST compliance assessments.

Time is also running out to meet the NIST 800-171 mandate for CMMC 2.0 Level 2. We’ve got the knowledge and guidance to prepare your organization to get there as well.

Our Advisory Lifecycle

Implementing and Gaining NIST 800-171 Compliance

To prove NIST 800-171 compliance, organizations must conduct a self-assessment and meet 110 requirements. While seemingly daunting, there is a clear process for executing this assessment. Speak with one of our NIST compliance experts to discover the best way for your organization to approach the self-assessments.

Collaborate

Communicate

Assess

Collaborate

Form an assessment team of 38North Security cybersecurity experts, working alongside your organizational senior information security stakeholders. This team then sets an assessment plan, including time frame and objectives.

38North will conduct a full review of your systems and cybersecurity health. This evaluation will show you where your systems and protocols meet the security requirements and where they do not.

Communicate

Create an internal communications plan to spread awareness, and create a contact list with all relevant personnel and their responsibilities during the assessment.

38North will clearly communicate the purpose of each requirement and how it applies to your specific environment.

Assess

Collect relevant documents, including existing security policies, system records and manuals, previous audit results and logs, admin guidance documents, and system architecture documents to generate a comprehensive System Security Plan (SSP).

38North and your key security personnel will then create a plan of action that outlines how any unmet requirements should be remediated, and help collect the evidence required to show compliance.

What are the Challenges and Requirements of the NIST 800-171?

Obtaining NIST 800-171 compliance can be a daunting and somewhat difficult challenge due to the number of requirements an organization needs to meet, and the documentation that’s required. These roadblocks can cause delays and an increase in cost when trying to prove and maintain NIST 800-171 compliance.

Covered Information Systems

Often the hardest challenge contractors face is determining whether an information system is processing covered defense information (CDI) and is therefore within the scope of DFARS 252.204-7012 and must meet NIST 800-171.

Ambiguous Security Controls

Many of the security controls in NIST 800-171 are ambiguous. Given the risk of breaching contractual duties, this ambiguity makes it all the more important to document the good faith steps contractors are taking to comply.

Identifying Gaps

Not all contractors will meet all NIST 800-171 security controls. The preferred method for identifying gaps is to create a System Security Plan (required by control 3.12.4) and document any gaps in Plans of Action and Milestones (POAMs).

NIST 800-171 Compliance, the 38North Way

Because NIST 800-171 established security controls for the handling of CUI, it is a great baseline for any cloud service provider looking to service the U.S. Federal Government. But it’s also a fantastic set of controls for any commercial organization that needs the utmost in security controls. When you work with 38North, you get senior-level compliance experts who can help bring the best of NIST standards to your program.

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No-Surprises Assessments

We mitigate the chance of delays and failed assessments by ensuring your cloud security program is done right. Our experience, expertise, and partnership with technology partners ensures a complete and technically-sound process, every time.

Embedded NIST Compliance Experts

Distant compliance consultants that just dictate “to-dos” never work out for companies. That’s why our team is embedded within your engineering and development teams — to help build controls around your business case. This, in turn, results in compliant security policies and procedures that are sustainable and result in stronger security posture.

Scalable Engagements

Our approach is tailored to meet client-specific objectives. Some clients just need a basic gap analysis and staff augmentation support. Others want to outsource their entire security compliance and continuous monitoring programs. We work with every major cloud provider, including AWS, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Microsoft Azure, IBM, VMware and Oracle.

38North NIST 800-171 Solutions

NIST 800-171 Gap Analysis

New to 800-171 and don’t know how to get started? Our gap analyses will educate you on the process while evaluating your cloud solutions to see how they fare against the 800-171 security controls — at a fraction of the cost (and headache) of a full assessment.

800-171 Advisory Support

If you’ve committed to 800-171 but need help developing the required documentation, our experienced consultants can help. Our 800-171 consultants can develop all manner of documentation. Learn more about Documentation Development in our Cloud Security Advisory.

NIST 800-171 Remediation Support

Our expert cloud security advisors can speed your remediation efforts — helping you achieve NIST 800-171 compliance faster. This may mean new technologies, policies, plans, procedures, or training and awareness sessions.

NIST 800-171 Continuous Monitoring

Building a program around NIST 800-171 is tricky. And holding on to compliance is even harder. Continuous Monitoring packages take care of daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual continuous monitoring tasks so you can stay focused on your organization’s success.

Your Path to NIST 800-171 Compliance Starts Here

Book an initial NIST compliance conversation with one of our global security experts today and we’ll show you how NIST 800-171 compliance can help open new markets and provide industry-leading assurance.

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