NIST SP 800-53
NIST SP 800-53 is a publication by the National Institute of Standards and Technology that provides a comprehensive catalog of security and privacy controls for federal information systems and organizations, serving as the primary control framework for US government IT security.
NIST Special Publication 800-53 is one of the most detailed and widely referenced security control catalogs in the world. Originally developed to support the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA), it has been adopted by organizations far beyond the US government as a comprehensive framework for building and evaluating security programs.
Revision 5, the current version, contains over 1,000 controls organized into 20 control families. These families cover areas such as Access Control (AC), Audit and Accountability (AU), Configuration Management (CM), Incident Response (IR), Risk Assessment (RA), System and Communications Protection (SC), and System and Information Integrity (SI). Each control includes a description, supplemental guidance, control enhancements for higher-security environments, and references to related controls.
Controls are assigned to one of three security control baselines (Low, Moderate, and High) based on the FIPS 199 impact level of the information system. Organizations select a baseline and then tailor it by adding or removing controls based on their specific risk assessment, organizational policies, and operational environment. This tailoring process ensures that security measures are proportionate to the actual risks faced.
NIST 800-53 serves as the foundation for several other compliance frameworks. FedRAMP security requirements are derived directly from 800-53 controls. CMMC Level 2 maps to NIST SP 800-171, which itself is derived from 800-53 Moderate baseline. Many organizations use 800-53 as a comprehensive reference even when their primary compliance obligation is tied to a different framework, recognizing its depth and rigor.