The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce that promotes innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's role in supporting science, technology, and innovation in the US is critical. One of the ways they help is by providing comprehensive guidance for information security and privacy through the NIST 800-53 rev 5 publication.
NIST 800-53 rev 5 provides a set of security and privacy controls for federal information systems and organizations. The document contains a catalog of security and privacy controls that are intended to help organizations meet their security and privacy objectives. This standard is used mainly by federal agencies as well as by private sector organizations that provide products and services to the federal government. It addresses 20 security and privacy areas and is considered one of the most comprehensive security compliance standards available.
Horangi’s teams have mapped Warden, our flagship product, CSPM rules to the technical controls applicable to cloud security and privacy. By doing so, they ensure that you can meet the compliance requirements of NIST 800-53 rev 5.
Let's take a closer look at some of the controls that are applicable to cloud security and privacy:
- Access Control: This control manages who can access information systems and what actions they can perform. It ensures that only authorized individuals can access information systems and that access is granted based on a need-to-know basis.
- Audit and Accountability: This control tracks and documents system activity to help detect and investigate security incidents. It ensures that a record of all activity is maintained and can be reviewed in the event of an incident.
- Assessment, Authorization, and Monitoring: This control ensures that information systems are thoroughly tested, evaluated and monitored for security and privacy risks before they are authorized for use. It helps organizations identify and mitigate potential risks before they become a problem.
- Configuration Management: This control ensures that information systems are configured securely and in accordance with organizational policies and standards. It helps organizations maintain a consistent and secure configuration across all of their systems.
- Contingency Planning: This control establishes procedures for responding to and recovering from security incidents and other disruptions. It ensures that organizations can quickly and effectively respond to incidents and minimize the impact on their operations.
- Identification and Authentication: This control verifies the identities of users and devices and ensures that only authorized individuals can access information systems. It helps organizations prevent unauthorized access to their systems.
- Incident Response: This control establishes procedures for responding to and mitigating security incidents. It ensures that organizations can quickly and effectively respond to incidents and minimize the impact on their operations.
- Risk Assessment: This control identifies and evaluates security and privacy risks to information systems and organizational assets. It helps organizations prioritize their security efforts and focus on the areas that are most at risk.
- System and Services Acquisition: This control helps organizations ensure that security and privacy requirements are integrated into the acquisition process for information systems and services. It helps ensure that the systems and services organizations use are secure and meet their security requirements.
- System and Communications Protection: This control protects information systems and communications networks from unauthorized access and other security threats. It helps organizations ensure that their systems and networks are secure and protected.
- System and Information Integrity: This control ensures the accuracy, completeness, and reliability of information processed and stored by information systems. It helps organizations ensure that the information they rely on is accurate and trustworthy.
It's important to note that NIST 800-53 rev 5 is supported across all five major cloud service providers - AWS, Microsoft Azure, GCP, Alibaba Cloud, and Huawei. This means that organizations that use Warden can be confident that they can meet the compliance requirements of this standard, regardless of which cloud provider they use.
Conclusion
As organizations evolve in their cloud journey, there is a greater need to look beyond native cloud security tools that provide holistic coverage across clouds. NIST 800-53 rev 5 is a comprehensive security compliance standard and with these new compliance benchmarks added to Warden’s growing stack of resources, Warden is better equipped to provide excellent coverage for the big 5 cloud providers, with greater visibility and compliance monitoring than ever before. To stay updated with the latest additions to Warden’s features, you can visit our blog.
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