Understanding the NIST Standards and Guidelines Required by FISMA: How Three Mandated Documents are Changing the Dynamic of Information Security for the Federal Government

Published

November 1, 2004

Author(s)

Ronald S. Ross, Patricia R. Toth

Abstract

This bulletin summarizes an article entitled "Understanding the New FISMA-Required NIST Standards and Guidelines" by Ron S. Ross, PhD. It highlights FIPS 199, "Standards for Security Categorization of Federal Information and Information Systems," which is NIST's flagship standard in support of the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) of 2002. Users are provided with a high-level overview of how risk management principles can be applied to both new and legacy information systems within the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC).

Citation

ITL Bulletin -

NIST Pub Series

ITL Bulletin

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

Federal Information Processing Standards, Federal Information Security Management Act, FISMA, information security, information system security, minimum security requirements, risk management, Risk Management Framework, SDLC, security categorization, security controls, System Development Life Cycle

Citation

Ross, R. and Toth, P. (2004), Understanding the NIST Standards and Guidelines Required by FISMA: How Three Mandated Documents are Changing the Dynamic of Information Security for the Federal Government, ITL Bulletin, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=150234 (Accessed October 22, 2025)