By Lon J. Berman, CISSP, RDRP Organizations performing classified work for DoD (aka. Cleared Contractor Facilities) are governed by the National Industrial Security Program (NISP). NISP is administered by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), formerly known as the Defense Security Service (DSS). In general, companies covered by NISP…
Dear Dr. RMF, We are having a dispute in our office about how to handle security control selection for a “non-National Security System” (non-NSS). We know DoD has mandated that System Categorization and Security Control Selection shall be done “in accordance with CNSSI 1253”. However, the CNSSI 1253 security control…
By Kathryn Daily, CISSP, CAP, RDRP So by now, I’m sure you’ve seen a ton of articles on the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) initiative. A lot of information has been released but there are still a lot of unknowns. What We Know We know that it’s mandatory for all…
By Philip D. Schal, Ph.D., CISSP, RDRP What is Project Sentinel? The United States Army recently announced that it is launching a new initiative called Project Sentinel. Project Sentinel is described as an adaption of the traditional RMF process with goals of streamlining RMF into a threat informed risk decision…
By Lon J Berman, CISSP, RDRP The Enterprise Mission Assurance Support Service (eMASS) is a DoD system that serves as an information repository and workflow manager for the Risk Management Framework (RMF) process. The history of eMASS can be traced back to a project called Digital DITSCAP at the Defense…
Dear Dr. RMF, RMF IA-4 Identification Management control is not easy. It has so many rabbit holes. I am not sure how to tackle this control. Could you please simplify this control for me. Let’s say for IA-4 Identifier Management, the information system is a web application/web server. For the…
Dear Dr. RMF, I can tell you I am definitely new to eMass. However, I have registered several packages and brought over artifacts. I have blindly (using the job aid) assigned controls, exported the spreadsheet and reimported. Haven’t been able to produce the RAR or POAM. With that being said,…
Dear Dr. RMF, I was wondering if you could guide me to the official “source” for all SOP’s required for RMF. I have copies of SOP’s I have done for another group but these were built off templates we were given from our ISSM at the time. I have combed…
By Kathryn Daily, CISSP, CAP, RDRP That’s an eye-catching headline, right? Unfortunately, it’s not actually a thing, at least not yet, but will be in the future, if I get my way. Currently, all federal information systems are required to go through an Assessment and Authorization (A&A) process to be…
By Marilyn Fritz, CISSP Cybersecurity is notoriously challenging, with every new day bringing more media stories about losses from endless breaches. Beleaguered cybersecurity professionals are left coping with the onslaught and, more often than not, pleading for resources. Leaders in both private and public sectors all around the globe are…