Security requirement
- a.Approve and manage the exchange of CUI between the system and other systems using [Organization-defined: SELECTED PARAMETER VALUES].
- b.Document interface characteristics, security requirements, and responsibilities for each system as part of the exchange agreements.
- c.Review and update the exchange agreements [Organization-defined: frequency].
Discussion
Information exchange applies to information exchanges between two or more systems, both internal and external to the organization. Organizations consider the risks related to new or increased threats that may be introduced when systems exchange information with other systems that may have different security requirements or policies. The types of agreements selected are based on factors such as the relationship between the organizations exchanging information (e.g., government to government, business to business, government to business, government or business, or government or business to individual) and the level of access to the organizational system by users of the other system. The types of agreements can include information exchange security agreements, interconnection security agreements, memoranda of understanding or agreement, service-level agreements, or other types of agreements. Organizations may incorporate agreement information into formal contracts, especially for information exchanges established between federal agencies and nonfederal organizations (e.g., service providers, contractors, system developers, and system integrators). The types of information contained in exchange agreements include the interface characteristics, security requirements, controls, and responsibilities for each system.
Tailoring decisions required
Resolve these values through the governing organization’s approved tailoring and risk-management process before declaring the requirement implemented.
Implementation perspective
Treat Information Exchange as a CUI protection outcome that must be reflected in the system boundary, documented implementation, operational behavior, and assessment evidence. Pay particular attention to assessment planning, evidence quality, remediation, continuous monitoring, and system security plan accuracy.
- Confirm the requirement is in scope for the CUI system components, services, users, and external connections being assessed.
- Resolve every organization-defined parameter through an approved governance and tailoring process.
- Map each clause of the requirement to an accountable owner, implementation mechanism, and evidence source.
- Verify that inherited and shared implementations are supported by current provider evidence and responsibility boundaries.
- 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
- assessment plans and reports
- plans of action and milestones
- system security plans
- continuous monitoring results
Common failure patterns
- requirement status based only on owner assertion
- findings closed without evidence
- scope missing inherited services
- monitoring data disconnected from risk decisions
Assessment objectives and methods
Assessment objectives (7)
- a.
the exchange of CUI between the system and other systems is approved using [Organization-defined: SELECTED PARAMETER VALUES].
- a.
the exchange of CUI between the system and other systems is managed using [Organization-defined: SELECTED PARAMETER VALUES].
- b.
interface characteristics for each system are documented as part of the exchange agreements.
- b.
security requirements for each system are documented as part of the exchange agreements.
- b.
responsibilities for each system are documented as part of the exchange agreements.
- c.
exchange agreements are reviewed [Organization-defined: frequency] .
- c.
exchange agreements are updated [Organization-defined: frequency] .
Examine
- access control policy and procedures
- procedures for system connections
- system and communications protection policy and procedures
- system interconnection security agreements
- information exchange security agreements
- service-level agreements
- memoranda of understanding or agreements
- non-disclosure agreements
- system design documentation
- enterprise architecture
- security architecture
- system configuration settings
- system security plan
- other relevant documents or records
Interview
- personnel with development, implementation, and approval responsibilities for system interconnection agreements
- personnel who manage systems to which the exchange agreements apply
- personnel with information security responsibilities
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.
Authoritative sources
- NIST SP 800-171 Revision 3 official publication ↗
- NIST SP 800-171A Revision 3 official publication ↗
- NIST OSCAL Content release used for this import ↗
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.