NIST Special Publication 800-171 Revision 2

Date Published: January 28th, 2021

Withdrawn on May 14, 2024. Superseded by SP 800-171 Rev. 3

Author(s): Ron Ross (NIST), Victoria Pillitteri (NIST), Kelley Dempsey (NIST), Mark Riddle (NARA), Gary Guissanie (IDA)

Note: A Class Deviation is in effect as of May 2, 2024 (DEVIATION 2024O0013). The deviation clause requires contractors, who are subject to 252.204-7012, to comply with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-171 Revision 2, instead of the version of NIST SP 800-171 in effect at the time the solicitation is issued or as authorized by the contracting officer. Click Here

3.12.3: Monitor security controls on an ongoing basis to ensure the continued effectiveness of the controls.

Control Family: Security Assessment

Control Type: Basic

SPRS Value: 5

SPRS Supplemental Guidance: N/A

CMMC Level(s):

  • CA.L2-3.12.3

Top Ten Failed Requirement:

No

Referenced in:

DFARS 252.204-7012

Derived From: NIST SP 800-53r4

  • CA-2

  • CA-5

  • CA-7

  • PL-2

NIST Supplemental Guidance:

[SP 800-137]

Discussion:

Continuous monitoring programs facilitate ongoing awareness of threats, vulnerabilities, and information security to support organizational risk management decisions. The terms continuous and ongoing imply that organizations assess and analyze security controls and information security-related risks at a frequency sufficient to support risk-based decisions.

The results of continuous monitoring programs generate appropriate risk response actions by organizations. Providing access to security information on a continuing basis through reports or dashboards gives organizational officials the capability to make effective and timely risk management decisions. Automation supports more frequent updates to hardware, software, firmware inventories, and other system information. Effectiveness is further enhanced when continuous monitoring outputs are formatted to provide information that is specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and timely. Monitoring requirements, including the need for specific monitoring, may also be referenced in other requirements.

[SP 800-137] provides guidance on continuous monitoring.

Upon assessment, assessors must determine if- 

Determine if security controls are monitored on an ongoing basis to ensure the continued

effectiveness of those controls.

Assessors are instructed to-

Examine: [SELECT FROM: Security planning policy; organizational procedures addressing system security plan development and implementation; procedures addressing system security plan reviews and updates; enterprise architecture documentation; system security plan; records of system security plan reviews and updates; other relevant documents or records].

Interview: [SELECT FROM: Personnel with security planning and system security plan implementation responsibilities; personnel with information security responsibilities].

Test: [SELECT FROM: Organizational processes for system security plan development, review, update, and approval; mechanisms supporting the system security plan].

FURTHER DISCUSSION

Provide a plan for monitoring the state of security controls on a recurring basis that occurs more frequently than the periodic assessments discussed in CA.L2-3.12.1. This process provides a mechanism to assess the overall security posture of your organization, which directly relates to activities discussed in CA.L2-3.12.4. As a result, the process not only maintains awareness of vulnerabilities and threats, but it also informs management of the effectiveness of the security controls in determining if security controls are current and for management to make an acceptable risk decision.

Example

You are responsible for ensuring your company fulfills all cybersecurity requirements for its DoD contracts. You review those requirements and the security controls your company has put in place to meet them. You then create a plan to evaluate each control regularly over the next year. You mark several controls to be evaluated by a third-party security assessor. You assign other IT resources in the organization to evaluate controls within their area of responsibility. To ensure progress you establish recurring meetings with the accountable IT staff to assess continuous monitoring progress, review security information, evaluate risks from gaps in continuous monitoring, and produce reports for your management [a].

Potential Assessment Considerations

  • Are the security controls that need to be continuously monitored identified [a]?

  • Is the timeframe for continuous monitoring activities to support risk-based decision making defined [a]?

  • Is the output of continuous monitoring activities provided to stakeholders [a]?