Many organizations are required to comply with various security frameworks in order to ensure business continuity and security between the federal government and the private sector; NIST 800-171 is one of these frameworks.
If your organization has been approached about NIST 800-171 you may be wondering what it even is. NIST 800-171 is a security framework developed by NIST to help ensure the protection of controlled unclassified information (CUI) in contractors working with the Department of Defense (DoD) or the Defense Industrial Base (DIB). How important is this for your organization and what are the benefits that come with 800-171 compliance?
The most obvious reason for why NIST 800-171 compliance is important is because for your organization it may be required by law. In order to work with the federal government you will eventually have to comply with some if not all of 800-171's regulations. This is to ensure that any data or information provided by the government to the private sector is kept out of the wrong hands. If your organization fails to comply and you do have a breach there may be multiple consequences. The government may pursue damages for a breach of contract, your contract may be terminated entirely, and other legal actions may be taken against your organization. Additionally, the False Claims Act will make sure that if a false compliance report has been made there will be consequences.
Implementing NIST 800-171 into your organization security posture isn't just to avoid legal trouble, it actually helps secure your organization. The controls making up the 800-171 framework are extremely effective at securing your business. With 110 controls and 14 control families, the NIST 800-171 framework contains controls for the most practical the most advanced and technical security provisions that will all work together to protect your IT infrastructure from bad actors. Not only will you protect the CUI you've been entrusted with, you'll increase your overall security posture and decrease the chances of you falling victim to a data breach.
NIST 800-171 will become an unavoidable part of your security plan. While compliance may seem difficult and time consuming, CorpInfoTech is here to help you at every point in your compliance journey!
Contact us today if you feel you need to become compliant with NIST 800-171 today!