NIST Seeking Comments On Revised Standards For FISMA Compliance

On February 6, 2013, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) requested public comment on its latest revised draft of "Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations," (Special Publication (SP) 800-53, Revision 4).  Any government contractor responsible for maintaining a "FISMA compliant" information system will want to be aware of this latest revision to SP 800-53.

The Revised Draft, issued in the shadow of the President's recent Executive Order on cybersecurity, proposes various updates to the "toolbox" of risk-based cybersecurity safeguards and countermeasures that federal agencies use to protect their information systems.  See  Executive Order Opens Consultative Processes to Draft Cybersecurity Framework for Critical Infrastructure for a detailed overview of the Executive Order.