Architecting Risk Management for FISMA Compliance

NIST SP 800-53 provides a comprehensive inventory of security and privacy controls for federal information systems and organizations. The controls are customizable and address a diverse set of security and privacy requirements which enables organizations to implement a defense-in-depth strategy protecting vital mission and business functions.

In addition to protecting information systems from traditional and advanced persistent threats, NIST SP 800-53 controls are used to demonstrate compliance with governmental, organizational and institutional security requirements, such as the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA).

When architecting a cybersecurity program, responsibility falls to each organization to:

• categorize the information system
• select appropriate security controls
• implement the controls
• demonstrate the effectiveness of the controls

Implementing NIST 800-53

As your organization interprets the NIST standards and guidelines to build the most effective integrated risk management program, you’ll need qualified staff with experience in selecting controls that align to your organizational goals and defining metrics that measure the efficacy of your program.

To ensure you’re implementing the right controls for your risk appetite, properly prioritizing risks and investing in the appropriate remediation to achieve improvement over time, you’ll require a combination of integrated processes and systems, experienced staff and innovative technology. Achieving this optimal trifecta can often be challenging with limited resources and staffing, but TalaTek can help.

TalaTek intelligent Governance and Risk Integrated Solution (TiGRIS) is a cloud-managed service that delivers the people, processes and technology needed to ensure your organization’s governance, risk and compliance program meets its goals. Our seasoned GRC experts know regulations, frameworks and controls thoroughly, including FISMA and NIST. Our proven process framework and assessment methodologies integrate with our FedRAMP-authorized technology, so you can build a GRC program that measures risk and compliance holistically, across the organization’s technical, operational and management controls. With TiGRIS you create an automated and repeatable process that ensures consistent implementation, measurement and monitoring over time, effectively addressing your unique regulatory and control requirements and demonstrating compliance.

To learn more about our risk management services, contact us today.  And check out our NIST 800-53 reference guides: NIST 800-53 R4 and NIST 800-53 R5 (draft).