NIST SP 800-39FPD Front Matter

NIST Special Publication 800-39 300px	Integrated Enterprise-Wide Risk Management Organization, Mission, and Information System View
	JOINT TASK FORCE TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVE
I N F O R M A T I O N	S E C U R I T Y
	FINAL PUBLIC DRAFT
	Computer Security Division
	Information Technology Laboratory
	National Institute of Standards and Technology
	Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8930
	December 2010
	150px
	U.S. Department of Commerce
	Gary Locke, Secretary
	National Institute of Standards and Technology
	Patrick D. Gallagher, Director

Reports on Computer Systems Technology

The Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) promotes the U.S. economy and public welfare by providing technical leadership for the nation's measurement and standards infrastructure. ITL develops tests, test methods, reference data, proof of concept implementations, and technical analyses to advance the development and productive use of information technology. ITL's responsibilities include the development of management, administrative, technical, and physical standards and guidelines for the cost-effective security and privacy of other than national security-related information in federal information systems. The Special Publication 800-series reports on ITL's research, guidelines, and outreach efforts in information system security, and its collaborative activities with industry, government, and academic organizations.

Authority

This publication has been developed by NIST to further its statutory responsibilities under the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), Public Law (P.L.) 107-347. NIST is responsible for developing information security standards and guidelines, including minimum requirements for federal information systems, but such standards and guidelines shall not apply to national security systems without the express approval of appropriate federal officials exercising policy authority over such systems. This guideline is consistent with the requirements of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-130, Section 8b(3), Securing Agency Information Systems, as analyzed in Circular A-130, Appendix IV: Analysis of Key Sections. Supplemental information is provided in Circular A-130, Appendix III, Security of Federal Automated Information Resources.

Nothing in this publication should be taken to contradict the standards and guidelines made mandatory and binding on federal agencies by the Secretary of Commerce under statutory authority. Nor should these guidelines be interpreted as altering or superseding the existing authorities of the Secretary of Commerce, Director of the OMB, or any other federal official. This publication may be used by nongovernmental organizations on a voluntary basis and is not subject to copyright in the United States. Attribution would, however, be appreciated by NIST.

NIST Special Publication 800-39, 86 pages (December 2010)

Certain commercial entities, equipment, or materials may be identified in this document in order to describe an experimental procedure or concept adequately. Such identification is not intended to imply recommendation or endorsement by NIST, nor is it intended to imply that the entities, materials, or equipment are necessarily the best available for the purpose. There may be references in this publication to other publications currently under development by NIST in accordance with its assigned statutory responsibilities. The information in this publication, including concepts and methodologies, may be used by federal agencies even before the completion of such companion publications. Thus, until each publication is completed, current requirements, guidelines, and procedures, where they exist, remain operative. For planning and transition purposes, federal agencies may wish to closely follow the development of these new publications by NIST. Organizations are encouraged to review all draft publications during public comment periods and provide feedback to NIST. All NIST publications, other than the ones noted above, are available at http://csrc.nist.gov/publications.

Public comment period: December 14, 2010 through January 25, 2011 National Institute of Standards and Technology Attn: Computer Security Division, Information Technology Laboratory 100 Bureau Drive (Mail Stop 8930) Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8930 Electronic mail: sec-cert@nist.gov

Compliance with NIST Standards and Guidelines

In accordance with the provisions of FISMA, the Secretary of Commerce shall, on the basis of standards and guidelines developed by NIST, prescribe standards and guidelines pertaining to federal information systems. The Secretary shall make standards compulsory and binding to the extent determined necessary by the Secretary to improve the efficiency of operation or security of federal information systems. Standards prescribed shall include information security standards that provide minimum information security requirements and are otherwise necessary to improve the security of federal information and information systems.

• Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) are approved by the Secretary of Commerce and issued by NIST in accordance with FISMA. FIPS are compulsory and binding for federal agencies. FISMA requires that federal agencies comply with these standards, and therefore, agencies may not waive their use.
• Special Publications (SPs) are developed and issued by NIST as recommendations and guidance documents. For other than national security programs and systems, federal agencies must follow those NIST Special Publications mandated in a Federal Information Processing Standard. FIPS 200 mandates the use of Special Publication 800-53, as amended. In addition, OMB policies (including OMB Reporting Instructions for FISMA and Agency Privacy Management) state that for other than national security programs and systems, federal agencies must follow certain specific NIST Special Publications.
• Other security-related publications, including interagency reports (NISTIRs) and ITL Bulletins, provide technical and other information about NIST's activities. These publications are mandatory only when specified by OMB.
• Compliance schedules for NIST security standards and guidelines are established by OMB in policies, directives, or memoranda (e.g., annual FISMA Reporting Guidance).

Acknowledgements

This publication was developed by the Joint Task Force Transformation Initiative Interagency Working Group with representatives from the Civil, Defense, and Intelligence Communities in an ongoing effort to produce a unified information security framework for the federal government. The National Institute of Standards and Technology wishes to acknowledge and thank the senior leaders from the Departments of Commerce and Defense, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Committee on National Security Systems, and the members of the interagency technical working group whose dedicated efforts contributed significantly to the publication. The senior leaders, interagency working group members, and their organizational affiliations include:

U.S. Department of Defense	Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Teresa M. Takai	Honorable Priscilla Guthrie
Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration/DoD Chief Information Officer	Associate Director of National Intelligence and Chief Information Officer
Gus Guissanie	Sherrill Nicely
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber, Identity, and Information Assurance	Deputy Intelligence Community Chief Information Officer
Dominic Cussatt	Mark J. Morrison
Senior Policy Advisor	Deputy Associate Director of National Intelligence for IC Information Assurance
Barbara Fleming	Roger Caslow
Senior Policy Advisor	Lead, C&A Transformation
National Institute of Standards and Technology	Committee on National Security Systems
Cita M.Furlani	Teresa M. Takai
Director, Information Technology Laboratory	Acting Chair, CNSS
William C. Barker	Eustace D. King
Cyber Security Advisor, Information Technology Laboratory	CNSS Subcommittee Co-Chair (DoD)
Donna Dodson	Peter Gouldmann
Chief, Computer Security Division	CNSS Subcommittee Co-Chair (DoS)
Ron Ross
FISMA Implementation Project Leader

Joint Task Force Transformation Initiative Interagency Working Group

Ron Ross	Gary Stoneburner	Jennifer Fabius-Greene	Kelley Dempsey
NIST, JTF Leader	Johns Hopkins APL	MITRE Corporation	NIST
Deborah Bodeau	Cheri Caddy	Peter Gouldmann	Arnold Johnson
MITRE Corporation	Intelligence Community	Department of State	NIST
Peter Williams	Karen Quigg	Richard Graubart	Christian Enloe
Booz Allen Hamilton	MITRE Corporation	MITRE Corporation	NIST

In addition to the above acknowledgments, a special note of thanks goes to Peggy Himes and Elizabeth Lennon of NIST for their superb technical editing and administrative support. The authors also gratefully acknowledge and appreciate the significant contributions from individuals and organizations in the public and private sectors, both nationally and internationally, whose thoughtful and constructive comments improved the overall quality, thoroughness, and usefulness of this publication.

DEVELOPING COMMON INFORMATION SECURITY FOUNDATIONS

COLLABORATION AMONG PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR ENTITIES

In developing standards and guidelines required by FISMA, NIST consults with other federal agencies and offices as well as the private sector to improve information security, avoid unnecessary and costly duplication of effort, and ensure that NIST publications are complementary with the standards and guidelines employed for the protection of national security systems. In addition to its comprehensive public review and vetting process, NIST is collaborating with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS) to establish a common foundation for information security across the federal government. A common foundation for information security will provide the Intelligence, Defense, and Civil sectors of the federal government and their contractors, more uniform and consistent ways to manage the risk to organizational operations and assets, individuals, other organizations, and the Nation that results from the operation and use of information systems. A common foundation for information security will also provide a strong basis for reciprocal acceptance of security authorization decisions and facilitate information sharing. NIST is also working with public and private sector entities to establish specific mappings and relationships between the security standards and guidelines developed by NIST and the International Organization for Standardization and International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 27001, Information Security Management System (ISMS).

Notes to Reviewers

NIST Special Publication 800-39 is the fourth in the series of risk management and information security guidelines being developed by the Joint Task Force Transformation Initiative, a joint partnership among the Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community, NIST, and the Committee on National Security Systems. The partnership, under the leadership of the Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Secretary of Commerce continues to collaborate on the development of a unified information security framework for the federal government to address the challenges of protecting federal information and information systems as well as the Nation's critical information infrastructure.

The final public draft of Special Publication 800-39 recommends changes in how federal agencies and their contractors manage information security risk associated with the operation and use of information systems. For decades, organizations have managed risk at the information systems level. This information system focus provided a very narrow perspective that constrained risk-based decisions by senior leaders/executives to the tactical level--devoid, in many cases, of any direct linkage or traceability to the important organizational missions/business functions being carried out by enterprises. The concentration on information systems security by organizations resulted in a focus on vulnerability management at the expense of strategic risk management that is applied across enterprises.

Special Publication 800-39 introduces a three-tiered risk management approach that allows organizations to focus, initially, on establishing an enterprise-wide risk management strategy as part of a mature governance structure involving senior leaders/executives and a robust risk executive (function). The risk management strategy addresses some of the fundamental issues that organizations face in how risk is assessed, responded to, and monitored over time in the context of critical missions and business functions. The strategic focus of the risk management strategy allows organizations to influence the design of key mission and business processes--making these processes risk aware. Risk-aware mission/business processes drive enterprise architecture decisions and facilitate the development and implementation of effective information security architectures that provide roadmaps for allocating safeguards and countermeasures to information systems and the environments in which those systems operate.

The multitiered risk management approach (moving from organization to missions to systems) ensures that strategic considerations (including top-level organizational goals and objectives), drive investment and operational decisions with regard to managing risk to organizational operations and assets, individuals, other organizations, and the Nation. This type of risk-based decision making is especially important with respect to how organizations address advanced persistent threats which have the potential through sophisticated cyber attacks, to degrade or debilitate federal information systems supporting the critical applications and operations of the federal government.

Your feedback to us, as always, is important. We appreciate each and every contribution from our reviewers. The very insightful comments from both the public and private sectors continue to help shape our publications and ensure that they are meeting the needs of our customers.

-- RON ROSS

FISMA IMPLEMENTATION PROJECT LEADER

Sources

• NIST SP 800-39 DRAFT Integrated Enterprise-Wide Risk Management: Organization, Mission, and Information System View, Final Public Draft (PDF)