What is NIST 800-53?

It provides federal agencies and other organizations with a standardized framework to protect their information systems against threats and vulnerabilities.

NIST SP 800-53 is:

• A cornerstone of US Government cybersecurity efforts, widely adopted;
• A catalog of security controls for federal information systems and organizations in the United States;
• Primarily focused on defining security controls and safeguards that federal agencies must implement to protect their information systems and data;
• Scoped to address a wide range of topics that span twenty (20) families of controls (e.g., domains); and
• Often used as a reference by non-federal organizations and is recognized as a comprehensive set of security controls applicable to various industries.

Key highlights of NIST 800-53:

• Risk-based approach: Organizations assess their risks and apply appropriate controls;
• Comprehensive scope: Addresses technical, operational and management controls;
• Privacy integration: Controls for protecting individual privacy are integrated with security controls; and
• Alignment: Supports compliance with federal laws such as FISMA and frameworks like FedRAMP and CMMC.

NIST is on the fifth revision (rev 5) of Special Publication (SP) 800-53, Security and Privacy Controls for Information Systems and Organizations. From rev4 to rev5, NIST dropped the "US Government" focus for NIST SP 800-53 and now has it generalized enough for private industry to use. There are still "NISTisms" for wording that are entirely US Government-focused, but it is a significant improvement for private industry adoption. NIST 800-53 "best practices" are the de facto standard for private businesses that do business with the US federal government.