Assessing Security Requirements for Controlled Unclassified Information

Published

June 13, 2018

Author(s)

Ronald S. Ross, Kelley L. Dempsey, Victoria Y. Pillitteri

Abstract

The protection of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) resident in nonfederal systems and organizations is of paramount importance to federal agencies and can directly impact the ability of the federal government to successfully conduct its assigned missions and business operations. This publication provides federal and nonfederal organizations with assessment procedures and a methodology that can be employed to conduct assessments of the CUI security requirements in NIST Special Publication 800-171, Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Systems and Organizations. The assessment procedures are flexible and can be customized to the needs of the organizations and the assessors conducting the assessments. Security assessments can be conducted as self-assessments; independent, third-party assessments; or government-sponsored assessments and can be applied with various degrees of rigor, based on customer-defined depth and coverage attributes. The findings and evidence produced during the security assessments can facilitate risk-based decisions by organizations related to the CUI requirements.

Citation

Special Publication (NIST SP) - 800-171A

Report Number

800-171A

NIST Pub Series

Special Publication (NIST SP)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

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DOI Link

Keywords

Assessment, Assessment Method, Assessment Object, Assessment Procedure, Assurance, Basic Security Requirement, Controlled Unclassified Information, Coverage, CUI Registry, Depth, Derived Security Requirement, Executive Order 13556, FISMA, NIST Special Publication 800-53, NIST Special Publication 800-53A, Nonfederal Organization, Nonfederal System, Security Assessment, Security Control.?

Citation

Ross, R. , Dempsey, K. and Pillitteri, V. (2018), Assessing Security Requirements for Controlled Unclassified Information, Special Publication (NIST SP), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-171A (Accessed October 9, 2025)