NIST SP 800-53 Learning Center
Study this control family as a connected set of risk outcomes, implementation decisions, evidence expectations, and assessment questions.
Control family
Use the family as a planning boundary, but assess each selected control against the system context, inherited services, organization-defined parameters, and evidence available from real operations.
Family catalog
Base controls open full profiles. Enhancement results link directly to the corresponding enhancement section on the parent control page.
Identification and authentication policy and procedures address the controls in the IA family that are implemented within systems and organizations. The risk management strategy is an important factor in establishing such policies and procedures. Policies and procedures contribute to security and privacy assurance. Therefore, it is important that security an
Organizations can satisfy the identification and authentication requirements by complying with the requirements in [HSPD 12](#f16e438e-7114-4144-bfe2-2dfcad8cb2d0) . Organizational users include employees or individuals who organizations consider to have an equivalent status to employees (e.g., contractors and guest researchers). Unique identification and au
Devices that require unique device-to-device identification and authentication are defined by type, device, or a combination of type and device. Organization-defined device types include devices that are not owned by the organization. Systems use shared known information (e.g., Media Access Control [MAC], Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol [TCP/
Common device identifiers include Media Access Control (MAC) addresses, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, or device-unique token identifiers. The management of individual identifiers is not applicable to shared system accounts. Typically, individual identifiers are the usernames of the system accounts assigned to those individuals. In such instances, the acc
Authenticators include passwords, cryptographic devices, biometrics, certificates, one-time password devices, and ID badges. Device authenticators include certificates and passwords. Initial authenticator content is the actual content of the authenticator (e.g., the initial password). In contrast, the requirements for authenticator content contain specific c
Authentication feedback from systems does not provide information that would allow unauthorized individuals to compromise authentication mechanisms. For some types of systems, such as desktops or notebooks with relatively large monitors, the threat (referred to as shoulder surfing) may be significant. For other types of systems, such as mobile devices with s
Authentication mechanisms may be required within a cryptographic module to authenticate an operator accessing the module and to verify that the operator is authorized to assume the requested role and perform services within that role.
Non-organizational users include system users other than organizational users explicitly covered by [IA-2](#ia-2) . Non-organizational users are uniquely identified and authenticated for accesses other than those explicitly identified and documented in [AC-14](#ac-14) . Identification and authentication of non-organizational users accessing federal systems m
Services that may require identification and authentication include web applications using digital certificates or services or applications that query a database. Identification and authentication methods for system services and applications include information or code signing, provenance graphs, and electronic signatures that indicate the sources of service
Adversaries may compromise individual authentication mechanisms employed by organizations and subsequently attempt to impersonate legitimate users. To address this threat, organizations may employ specific techniques or mechanisms and establish protocols to assess suspicious behavior. Suspicious behavior may include accessing information that individuals do
In addition to the re-authentication requirements associated with device locks, organizations may require re-authentication of individuals in certain situations, including when roles, authenticators or credentials change, when security categories of systems change, when the execution of privileged functions occurs, after a fixed time period, or periodically.
Identity proofing is the process of collecting, validating, and verifying a user’s identity information for the purposes of establishing credentials for accessing a system. Identity proofing is intended to mitigate threats to the registration of users and the establishment of their accounts. Standards and guidelines specifying identity assurance levels for i
Identity providers, both internal and external to the organization, manage the user, device, and NPE authenticators and issue statements, often called identity assertions, attesting to identities of other systems or systems components. Authorization servers create and issue access tokens to identified and authenticated users and devices that can be used to g
Multi-factor authentication requires the use of two or more different factors to achieve authentication. The authentication factors are defined as follows: something you know (e.g., a personal identification number [PIN]), something you have (e.g., a physical authenticator such as a cryptographic private key), or something you are (e.g., a biometric). Multi-
Multi-factor authentication requires the use of two or more different factors to achieve authentication. The authentication factors are defined as follows: something you know (e.g., a personal identification number [PIN]), something you have (e.g., a physical authenticator such as a cryptographic private key), or something you are (e.g., a biometric). Multi-
NIST SP 800-53 enhancement IA-2(3) Local Access to Privileged Accounts.
NIST SP 800-53 enhancement IA-2(4) Local Access to Non-privileged Accounts.
Individual authentication prior to shared group authentication mitigates the risk of using group accounts or authenticators.
The purpose of requiring a device that is separate from the system to which the user is attempting to gain access for one of the factors during multi-factor authentication is to reduce the likelihood of compromising authenticators or credentials stored on the system. Adversaries may be able to compromise such authenticators or credentials and subsequently im
NIST SP 800-53 enhancement IA-2(7) Network Access to Non-privileged Accounts — Separate Device.
Authentication processes resist replay attacks if it is impractical to achieve successful authentications by replaying previous authentication messages. Replay-resistant techniques include protocols that use nonces or challenges such as time synchronous or cryptographic authenticators.
NIST SP 800-53 enhancement IA-2(9) Network Access to Non-privileged Accounts — Replay Resistant.
A local connection is a connection with a device that communicates without the use of a network. A network connection is a connection with a device that communicates through a network. A remote connection is a connection with a device that communicates through an external network. Bidirectional authentication provides stronger protection to validate the iden
NIST SP 800-53 enhancement IA-3(2) Cryptographic Bidirectional Network Authentication.
The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is an example of a means by which clients can dynamically receive network address assignments.
Device attestation refers to the identification and authentication of a device based on its configuration and known operating state. Device attestation can be determined via a cryptographic hash of the device. If device attestation is the means of identification and authentication, then it is important that patches and updates to the device are handled via a
Prohibiting account identifiers as public identifiers applies to any publicly disclosed account identifier used for communication such as, electronic mail and instant messaging. Prohibiting the use of systems account identifiers that are the same as some public identifier, such as the individual identifier section of an electronic mail address, makes it more
NIST SP 800-53 enhancement IA-4(2) Supervisor Authorization.
NIST SP 800-53 enhancement IA-4(3) Multiple Forms of Certification.
Characteristics that identify the status of individuals include contractors, foreign nationals, and non-organizational users. Identifying the status of individuals by these characteristics provides additional information about the people with whom organizational personnel are communicating. For example, it might be useful for a government employee to know th
In contrast to conventional approaches to identification that presume static accounts for preregistered users, many distributed systems establish identifiers at runtime for entities that were previously unknown. When identifiers are established at runtime for previously unknown entities, organizations can anticipate and provision for the dynamic establishmen
Cross-organization identifier management provides the capability to identify individuals, groups, roles, or devices when conducting cross-organization activities involving the processing, storage, or transmission of information.
NIST SP 800-53 enhancement IA-4(7) In-person Registration.
A pairwise pseudonymous identifier is an opaque unguessable subscriber identifier generated by an identity provider for use at a specific individual relying party. Generating distinct pairwise pseudonymous identifiers with no identifying information about a subscriber discourages subscriber activity tracking and profiling beyond the operational requirements
For each of the entities covered in [IA-2](#ia-2), [IA-3](#ia-3), [IA-8](#ia-8) , and [IA-9](#ia-9) , it is important to maintain the attributes for each authenticated entity on an ongoing basis in a central (protected) store.
Password-based authentication applies to passwords regardless of whether they are used in single-factor or multi-factor authentication. Long passwords or passphrases are preferable over shorter passwords. Enforced composition rules provide marginal security benefits while decreasing usability. However, organizations may choose to establish certain rules for
Public key cryptography is a valid authentication mechanism for individuals, machines, and devices. For PKI solutions, status information for certification paths includes certificate revocation lists or certificate status protocol responses. For PIV cards, certificate validation involves the construction and verification of a certification path to the Common
NIST SP 800-53 enhancement IA-5(3) In-person or Trusted External Party Registration.
NIST SP 800-53 enhancement IA-5(4) Automated Support for Password Strength Determination.
Changing authenticators prior to the delivery and installation of system components extends the requirement for organizations to change default authenticators upon system installation by requiring developers and/or installers to provide unique authenticators or change default authenticators for system components prior to delivery and/or installation. However
For systems that contain multiple security categories of information without reliable physical or logical separation between categories, authenticators used to grant access to the systems are protected commensurate with the highest security category of information on the systems. Security categories of information are determined as part of the security categ
In addition to applications, other forms of static storage include access scripts and function keys. Organizations exercise caution when determining whether embedded or stored authenticators are in encrypted or unencrypted form. If authenticators are used in the manner stored, then those representations are considered unencrypted authenticators.
When individuals have accounts on multiple systems and use the same authenticators such as passwords, there is the risk that a compromise of one account may lead to the compromise of other accounts. Alternative approaches include having different authenticators (passwords) on all systems, employing a single sign-on or federation mechanism, or using some form
Federation provides organizations with the capability to authenticate individuals and devices when conducting cross-organization activities involving the processing, storage, or transmission of information. Using a specific list of approved external organizations for authentication helps to ensure that those organizations are vetted and trusted.
Acceptance of Personal Identity Verification (PIV) credentials from other federal agencies applies to both logical and physical access control systems. PIV credentials are those credentials issued by federal agencies that conform to FIPS Publication 201 and supporting guidelines. The adequacy and reliability of PIV card issuers are addressed and authorized u
Acceptance of only NIST-compliant external authenticators applies to organizational systems that are accessible to the public (e.g., public-facing websites). External authenticators are issued by nonfederal government entities and are compliant with [SP 800-63B](#e59c5a7c-8b1f-49ca-8de0-6ee0882180ce) . Approved external authenticators meet or exceed the mini
NIST SP 800-53 enhancement IA-8(3) Use of FICAM-approved Products.
Organizations define profiles for identity management based on open identity management standards. To ensure that open identity management standards are viable, robust, reliable, sustainable, and interoperable as documented, the Federal Government assesses and scopes the standards and technology implementations against applicable laws, executive orders, dire
Acceptance of PIV-I credentials can be implemented by PIV, PIV-I, and other commercial or external identity providers. The acceptance and verification of PIV-I-compliant credentials apply to both logical and physical access control systems. The acceptance and verification of PIV-I credentials address nonfederal issuers of identity cards that desire to intero
Federated identity solutions can create increased privacy risks due to the tracking and profiling of individuals. Using identifier mapping tables or cryptographic techniques to blind credential service providers and relying parties from each other or to make identity attributes less visible to transmitting parties can reduce these privacy risks.
NIST SP 800-53 enhancement IA-9(1) Information Exchange.
NIST SP 800-53 enhancement IA-9(2) Transmission of Decisions.
Including supervisor or sponsor authorization as part of the registration process provides an additional level of scrutiny to ensure that the user’s management chain is aware of the account, the account is essential to carry out organizational missions and functions, and the user’s privileges are appropriate for the anticipated responsibilities and authoriti
Identity evidence, such as documentary evidence or a combination of documents and biometrics, reduces the likelihood of individuals using fraudulent identification to establish an identity or at least increases the work factor of potential adversaries. The forms of acceptable evidence are consistent with the risks to the systems, roles, and privileges associ
Validation and verification of identity evidence increases the assurance that accounts and identifiers are being established for the correct user and authenticators are being bound to that user. Validation refers to the process of confirming that the evidence is genuine and authentic, and the data contained in the evidence is correct, current, and related to
In-person proofing reduces the likelihood of fraudulent credentials being issued because it requires the physical presence of individuals, the presentation of physical identity documents, and actual face-to-face interactions with designated registration authorities.
To make it more difficult for adversaries to pose as legitimate users during the identity proofing process, organizations can use out-of-band methods to ensure that the individual associated with an address of record is the same individual that participated in the registration. Confirmation can take the form of a temporary enrollment code or a notice of proo
To limit unnecessary re-proofing of identities, particularly of non-PIV users, organizations accept proofing conducted at a commensurate level of assurance by other agencies or organizations. Proofing is consistent with organizational security policy and the identity assurance level appropriate for the system, application, or information accessed. Accepting
Identity assertions and access tokens are typically digitally signed. The private keys used to sign these assertions and tokens are protected commensurate with the impact of the system and information resources that can be accessed.
This includes verification of digital signatures protecting identity assertions and access tokens, as well as included metadata. Metadata includes information about the access request such as information unique to user, system or information resource being accessed, or the transaction itself such as time. Protected system and information resources could incl
An access token is a piece of data that represents the authorization granted to a user or NPE to access specific systems or information resources. Access tokens enable controlled access to services and resources. Properly managing the lifecycle of access tokens, including their issuance, validation, and revocation, is crucial to maintaining confidentiality o
Single sign-on enables users to log in once and gain access to multiple system resources. Organizations consider the operational efficiencies provided by single sign-on capabilities with the risk introduced by allowing access to multiple systems via a single authentication event. Single sign-on can present opportunities to improve system security, for exampl
NIST SP 800-53 enhancement IA-2(11) Remote Access — Separate Device.
Acceptance of Personal Identity Verification (PIV)-compliant credentials applies to organizations implementing logical access control and physical access control systems. PIV-compliant credentials are those credentials issued by federal agencies that conform to FIPS Publication 201 and supporting guidance documents. The adequacy and reliability of PIV card i
Out-of-band authentication refers to the use of two separate communication paths to identify and authenticate users or devices to an information system. The first path (i.e., the in-band path) is used to identify and authenticate users or devices and is generally the path through which information flows. The second path (i.e., the out-of-band path) is used t
Authentication requires some form of binding between an identity and the authenticator that is used to confirm the identity. In conventional approaches, binding is established by pre-provisioning both the identity and the authenticator to the system. For example, the binding between a username (i.e., identity) and a password (i.e., authenticator) is accompli
NIST SP 800-53 enhancement IA-5(11) Hardware Token-based Authentication.
Unlike password-based authentication, which provides exact matches of user-input passwords to stored passwords, biometric authentication does not provide exact matches. Depending on the type of biometric and the type of collection mechanism, there is likely to be some divergence from the presented biometric and the stored biometric that serves as the basis f
Cached authenticators are used to authenticate to the local machine when the network is not available. If cached authentication information is out of date, the validity of the authentication information may be questionable.
An organization-wide methodology for managing the content of PKI trust stores helps improve the accuracy and currency of PKI-based authentication credentials across the organization.
General Services Administration (GSA)-approved products and services are products and services that have been approved through the GSA conformance program, where applicable, and posted to the GSA Approved Products List. GSA provides guidance for teams to design and build functional and secure systems that comply with Federal Identity, Credential, and Access
Issuing authenticators in person or by a trusted external party enhances and reinforces the trustworthiness of the identity proofing process.
Biometric characteristics do not constitute secrets. Such characteristics can be obtained by online web accesses, taking a picture of someone with a camera phone to obtain facial images with or without their knowledge, lifting from objects that someone has touched (e.g., a latent fingerprint), or capturing a high-resolution image (e.g., an iris pattern). Pre
For systems where static passwords are employed, it is often a challenge to ensure that the passwords are suitably complex and that the same passwords are not employed on multiple systems. A password manager is a solution to this problem as it automatically generates and stores strong and different passwords for various accounts. A potential risk of using pa
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Planned Academy connection
These titles come from the approved NIST SP 800-53 course plan. They are shown as planned coverage and do not claim a public lesson URL before publication.
