Secure File Sharing and Governance Support NIST SP 800-171 Compliance

NIST SP 800-171 is a set of cybersecurity standards designed to protect controlled unclassified information (CUI) in non-federal systems and organizations. It is crucial for safeguarding sensitive government data shared with contractors, subcontractors, and other external entities. Compliance with NIST SP 800-171 is mandatory for organizations handling CUI, particularly those working with the Department of Defense (DoD).

The framework outlines 110 security controls across 17 families, covering areas such as access control, incident response, risk assessment, and system and communications protection. These controls provide a comprehensive approach to securing CUI, reducing the risk of cyber incidents and maintaining the trust of government partners.

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Common Challenges in Complying With NIST 800-171

Organizations face significant challenges when complying with NIST SP 800-171, including the complexity of implementing and maintaining the required security controls across their systems and processes. Following are some of the biggest challenges faced by DIB contractors when it comes to NIST SP 800-171 compliance and their sensitive content communications.

Access Controls

Complying with access control requirements in NIST SP 800-171 can be challenging for organizations. Implementing granular access controls, managing user accounts, and enforcing least-privilege principles across various systems and applications require significant effort and resources. Organizations must ensure that access rights are consistently applied, regularly reviewed, and promptly updated when user roles change or employees leave the company. Additionally, monitoring and auditing access to sensitive data, such as CUI, can be complex and time-consuming, especially in large-scale environments with diverse systems and a multitude of users.

Audit and Accountability

Organizations face significant challenges in meeting the audit and accountability requirements, which involve logging and monitoring system events, generating detailed audit records, and protecting audit information from unauthorized access or modification. Implementing comprehensive logging and auditing mechanisms across multiple systems and applications can be complex and resource-intensive. Organizations must ensure that audit records contain sufficient information for effective analysis and investigation, while also securing these records from tampering or deletion. Additionally, reviewing and analyzing audit logs regularly to detect suspicious activities requires dedicated resources and expertise. Failure to comply with these requirements can result in the inability to detect and respond to security incidents, as well as potential legal and regulatory consequences.

Configuration Management

The configuration management requirements pose several challenges for organizations. These requirements involve establishing and maintaining secure baseline configurations, controlling changes to system configurations, and restricting the use of unnecessary functions, ports, and services. Organizations must ensure that their systems are configured securely and consistently across the enterprise, which can be difficult to achieve and maintain, especially in complex IT environments. Identifying and documenting deviations from established configuration settings requires thorough analysis and approval processes. Additionally, organizations must regularly review and update their system inventories, track the location of CUI, and apply appropriate controls to systems used in high-risk areas. Failing to comply with these requirements can lead to vulnerabilities, inconsistencies, and an increased risk of security breaches.

Identification and Authentication

The identification and authentication requirements involve uniquely identifying and authenticating users and devices, implementing multi-factor authentication, and managing authenticators securely. Organizations must ensure that all users and devices are properly authenticated before granting access to sensitive systems and data, which can be complex and resource-intensive, particularly in large-scale environments. Implementing multi-factor authentication across multiple systems and applications requires significant effort and may impact user experience. Additionally, organizations must establish secure processes for managing authenticators, including their distribution, revocation, and protection against unauthorized disclosure or modification. Failure to comply with these requirements can result in unauthorized access, data breaches, and noncompliance with regulatory standards.

Systems and Communications Protection

Systems and communications protection requirements involve monitoring and controlling communications at system boundaries, separating user functionality from system management, protecting the confidentiality of CUI during transmission and storage, and managing cryptographic keys securely. Organizations must ensure that their systems are properly segmented and that communications between internal and external networks are tightly controlled. Implementing strong encryption mechanisms to protect CUI in transit and at rest can be complex, especially when dealing with a variety of systems and platforms. Additionally, organizations must establish secure processes for managing cryptographic keys, including their generation, distribution, and storage. Failure to comply with these requirements can result in unauthorized access, data breaches, and noncompliance with regulatory standards.

Kiteworks Supports NIST 800-171 Compliance

Robust Account Management Capabilities

Kiteworks provides a comprehensive set of features to support compliance with the access control requirements. The platform offers robust account management capabilities, allowing administrators to create, modify, and disable user accounts, as well as monitor account usage. Kiteworks enforces role-based access controls and least-privilege principles, ensuring that users only have access to the data and features necessary for their roles. The platform also supports the separation of duties, multi-factor authentication, and secure remote access. Additionally, Kiteworks enables organizations to protect CUI on mobile devices and control access to external systems.

Immutable Audit Logs and SIEM Integrations

The platform logs all access to and sharing of content, tracks user activities, and generates detailed audit records with timestamps, user identities, and event types. Kiteworks integrates with SIEM systems for real-time event correlation and threat detection and offers comprehensive reporting capabilities for security investigations. The platform protects audit logs from unauthorized access, modification, and deletion, ensuring the integrity of audit information. Kiteworks alerts administrators in case of logging failures and provides a CISO Dashboard for a visual overview of system activities and anomalies. These features enable organizations to effectively monitor, analyze, and secure their systems, maintaining compliance with the audit and accountability requirements.

Hardened Virtual Appliance and Least-privilege Settings

Kiteworks’ one-click compliance reports track the baseline configuration and log all changes to the system configuration. Administrators can configure security settings for the platform, users, and mobile devices, with the system defaulting to least-privilege settings and warning of potentially risky configurations. Kiteworks enables administrators to review, approve, and control changes to the system, and provides compliance warnings for changes that degrade security. The hardened virtual appliance exposes only essential ports and services, prevents unauthorized software installation, and protects CUI processed within the system. These features help organizations maintain secure and compliant system configurations, reducing the risk of vulnerabilities and data breaches.

Identification and Authentication Restrict Sensitive Data Access

The Kiteworks platform assigns unique user IDs and tracks all user activity, ensuring that users are properly identified and authenticated before accessing sensitive data. Kiteworks supports multi-factor authentication, including one-time passcodes, SMS-based authentication, and integration with third-party authentication solutions. The platform also implements replay-resistant authentication mechanisms and securely manages authenticators, protecting them from unauthorized disclosure or modification. Kiteworks enforces strong password policies, encrypts passwords in transit and at rest, and obscures authentication feedback. These features help organizations establish a robust identification and authentication process, reducing the risk of unauthorized access and data breaches.

Safeguard Systems and Communications

Kiteworks monitors and controls communications at system boundaries, ensuring the security of CUI shared across organizational boundaries. Kiteworks separates user functionality from system management, preventing unauthorized access to sensitive data and functions. The platform encrypts CUI in transit using TLS 1.3 and at rest using AES-256, and securely manages cryptographic keys. Kiteworks supports network segmentation, IP whitelisting and blacklisting, and the use of proxy servers to enhance security and control. The platform also protects session authenticity, limits external network connections, and provides secure mobile code management. These features enable organizations to establish a strong security posture, safeguarding their systems and communications from unauthorized access, data leakage, and other security threats.