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NIST SP 800-171 CUI Protection Center

03.11.01 — Risk Assessment

Read the official CUI requirement and assessment content, then use the separately labeled Bare Metal Cyber perspective to connect it to implementation, evidence, and sustained operation.

1Parameters
3Source controls
2Assessment objectives
3Assessment methods

03.11 — Risk Assessment · NIST SP 800-171 Revision 3

Active
Official NIST requirement content

Security requirement

  1. a.Assess the risk (including supply chain risk) of unauthorized disclosure resulting from the processing, storage, or transmission of CUI.
  2. b.Update risk assessments [Organization-defined: frequency].
Official NIST discussion

Discussion

Establishing the system boundary is a prerequisite to assessing the risk of the unauthorized disclosure of CUI. Risk assessments consider threats, vulnerabilities, likelihood, and adverse impacts to organizational operations and assets based on the operation and use of the system and the unauthorized disclosure of CUI. Risk assessments also consider risks from external parties (e.g., contractors operating systems on behalf of the organization, service providers, individuals accessing systems, and outsourcing entities). Risk assessments can be conducted at the organization level, the mission or business process level, or the system level and at any phase in the system development life cycle. Risk assessments include supply chain-related risks associated with suppliers or contractors and the system, system component, or system service that they provide.

Official organization-defined parameters

Tailoring decisions required

Resolve these values through the governing organization’s approved tailoring and risk-management process before declaring the requirement implemented.

frequencyorganization-defined frequencythe frequency at which to update the risk assessment is defined.
Bare Metal Cyber interpretation

Implementation perspective

Treat Risk Assessment as a CUI protection outcome that must be reflected in the system boundary, documented implementation, operational behavior, and assessment evidence. Pay particular attention to threat, vulnerability, likelihood, impact, criticality, and risk-response decisions for the CUI environment.

  1. Confirm the requirement is in scope for the CUI system components, services, users, and external connections being assessed.
  2. Resolve every organization-defined parameter through an approved governance and tailoring process.
  3. Map each clause of the requirement to an accountable owner, implementation mechanism, and evidence source.
  4. Verify that inherited and shared implementations are supported by current provider evidence and responsibility boundaries.
  5. Collect evidence during normal operation and review changes, exceptions, and deficiencies on a risk-based cadence.

Questions to ask

  • Which CUI assets, data flows, users, and services are protected by this requirement?
  • Which portions are implemented locally, inherited, shared, or not applicable, and what evidence supports that determination?
  • Do the system security plan, deployed configuration, operating process, and assessment evidence tell the same story?
  • What change, incident, or threshold should trigger reassessment?

Evidence and validation

  • risk assessments and threat models
  • vulnerability findings and prioritization records
  • supply-chain risk assessments
  • risk response and acceptance decisions

Common failure patterns

  • risk registers detached from technical evidence
  • vulnerability severity treated as business impact
  • assessments not updated after material change
  • accepted risks without owners or expiration
Official NIST SP 800-171A content

Assessment objectives and methods

Assessment objectives (2)
  1. a.

    the risk (including supply chain risk) of unauthorized disclosure resulting from the processing, storage, or transmission of CUI is assessed.

  2. b.

    risk assessments are updated [Organization-defined: frequency].

Examine

  • risk assessment policy and procedures
  • security planning policy and procedures
  • procedures for organizational assessments of risk
  • risk assessment
  • risk assessment results
  • risk assessment reviews
  • risk assessment updates
  • SCRM policy and procedures
  • inventory of critical systems, system components, and system services
  • procedures for organizational assessments of supply chain risk
  • acquisition policy
  • SCRM plan
  • system security plan
  • other relevant documents or records

Interview

  • personnel with risk assessment responsibilities
  • personnel with SCRM responsibilities
  • personnel with security responsibilities

Test

  • processes for organizational risk assessments
  • mechanisms for supporting or conducting, documenting, reviewing, disseminating, and updating risk assessments
  • mechanisms for supporting or conducting, documenting, reviewing, disseminating, and updating supply chain risk assessments
Official source-control relationships

Source NIST SP 800-53 controls

These controls are referenced by the official SP 800-171 Rev. 3 OSCAL record. Open the corresponding control pages for complete control text, enhancements, D3FEND mappings, and related learning.

Source controlRA-3Open SP 800-53 control →Source controlRA-3(1)Open SP 800-53 control →Source controlSR-6Open SP 800-53 control →
Source record

Authoritative sources

Bare Metal Cyber is an independent educational publisher and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NIST. The official publications, the responsible federal agency, and the governing contract or agreement determine applicability, tailoring, assessment depth, and required implementation.