Glossary definition: NIST SP 800-53

NIST SP 800-53: Security & Privacy Controls

NIST SP 800-53 is a set of security controls and guidelines developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). It provides a comprehensive set of security requirements for federal information systems and organizations. It is designed to help organizations protect their information systems from unauthorized access, modification, misuse, and destruction. The security controls are divided into 18 categories, with each category containing a set of security controls and associated implementation guidance. The categories include access control, audit and accountability, awareness and training, configuration management, contingency planning, identification and authentication, incident response, maintenance, media protection, physical and environmental protection, planning, personnel security, risk assessment, system and services acquisition, system and communications protection, system and information integrity, system and network security, and system and organization security. Each security control is further divided into sub-controls, with each sub-control having a set of implementation guidance and a baseline security requirement. The baseline security requirement defines the minimum level of security that must be achieved for each sub-control. NIST SP 800-53 also provides guidance on how to implement the security controls and provides a framework for developing a security program.