NIST 800-171 Cybersecurity Regulation: How It Affects IT Professionals Everywhere

Security Families

Access Control

Media Protection

Awareness and Training

Personnel Security

Auditing and Accountability

Physical Protection

Configuration Management

Risk Assessment

Identification and Authentication

Security Assessment

Incident Response

System and Communications Policy

Maintenance

System and Information Integrity

Requirement

What It Means

Access Control

Limit system access to only authorized users and the processes acting on the behalf of authorized users.

Limit system access to the types of transactions and functions that authorized users are permitted to execute. Limitations should include: 

• Controlling the flow of data through the organization
• Separating the duties of individuals to minimize the risks of malevolent activities
• Employing the concept of least privileges
• Using non-privileged accounts for non-security functions
• Limiting unsuccessful logins
• Monitoring remote connections

How Fortra can assist:

• Use Powertech Security Auditor to audit and document the compliance of organizational computer systems and fix non-compliant items. Ad-hoc and scheduled reports provide actionable data to meet regulatory requirements.
• Automate workflows eliminate errors and provide consistency for internal process such as user provisioning, data processing, and systems management.
• The Fortra Security Services team can architect and implement compensating controls and perform remediation tasks.
• With Powertech Identity & Access Manager (BoKS), you can default to least privilege to close security gaps through a centrally managed security domain.
• Use Powertech Event Manager to monitor user activities including unsuccessful login attempts, remote connections and non-privileged use.

Awareness and Training

Ensure managers, system administrators, and users of an organization’s IT assets are made aware of the security risks associated with their activities.

Ensure that organizational personnel are adequately trained to carry out their information security-related duties including providing security awareness training on potential indicators of threats.

How Fortra can assist:

• With live, in-person training, and informative webinars, our security experts can help your team stay on top of changing cybersecurity trends.
• Alternatively, you can use Fortra Managed Security Services to supplement your staff and ensure your systems remain under the watchful eye of skilled resources.

Audit and Accountability

Create, protect, and retain system audit records to the extent needed to enable the monitoring, analysis, investigation, and reporting of unlawful, unauthorized, or inappropriate system activity.

Ensure that the actions of individual system users can be uniquely traced to those users so they can be held accountable for their actions. This includes:

• Alerting in the event of an audit process failure
• Providing audit reduction and report generation to support on demand audit analysis and reporting
• Protecting audit information from unauthorized access
• Ensuring time synchronization is active

How Fortra can assist:

• Monitor the status of processes and services like AUDIT and NTP with Powertech Security Auditor ensuring that they are actively working.
• Automate monitors and processes the audit files ensuring that auditing information is being recorded appropriately. It also alerts you to anomalies for follow up by security personnel. 
• Powertech Compliance Monitor for IBM i provides comprehensive IBM i audit journal reporting and retention.
• Webdocs automatically archives and stores your audit reports.
• Centralize log streams from operating systems, network devices, and other applications using Powertech Event Manager. Event Manager normalizes disparate data sources and provides alerts for security events.
• Capture detailed audit records for file transfer activity using GoAnywhere MFT.
• Automatically consolidate user activity logs and produce compliance-specific reports with Powertech Identity & Access Manager (BoKS).

Configuration Management

Establish and maintain baseline configurations and inventories of organizational systems (including hardware, software, firmware, and documentation) throughout the respective system development life cycles.

Establish and enforce security configuration settings for information technology products employed in organizational systems. This includes ensuring that you can:

• Track, review, approve, disapprove, and audit all changes to organizational systems
• Restrict, disable, and prevent the use of nonessential programs, functions, ports, protocols, and services
• Analyze the security impact of changes before making them

How Fortra can assist:

• Use Automate to manage the lifecycle of the change control process.
• Gain visibility and control of data flows, open ports, and unauthorized network devices that can compromise system security with Intermapper.
• Ensure only authorized software is active and enabled with whitelist/blacklist functionality that Powertech Security Auditor provides. Security Auditor also monitors critical configuration files, alerting an organization to any unauthorized alterations.
• Protect system software and file storage using Powertech Antivirus preventing malicious activity and ransomware exploits.
• Managed Security Services monitors an organization’s systems and provides monthly reporting and remediation assistance for security compliance issues.
• Use Powertech Identity & Access Manager (BoKS) to auto-import from asset management systems and activate known and authorized system, server, and virtual machine images. Automatically attach the correct access management security policies based on the defined host type(s) from known user roles and job functions.
• Use Powertech Event Manager to detect security events in real-time from multiple data sources in a centralized response platform.

Identification and Authentication

Identify system users or processes acting on behalf of users or devices.

Authenticate (or verify) the identities of those users, processes, or devices, as a prerequisite to allowing access to organizational systems. This includes the ability to:

• Use multi-factor authentication for local and network access to privileged accounts and for network access to non-privileged accounts
• Prevent reuse of identifiers for a defined period
• Prohibit password reuse for a defined number of generations
• Enforce minimum password complexity rules

How Fortra can assist:

• Secure system access using Powertech Multi-Factor Authentication or Powertech RSA SecurID Agent for IBM i integration to provide multi-factor authentication.
• Audit and report on password compliance across the organization with Powertech Security Auditor.
• Use Automate to onboard and provision users in a secure and managed fashion compliant with organizational policies. When users leave the organization, ensure a clean and consistent exit process with Automate tasks and workflows.
• Use Powertech Identity & Access Manager (BoKS) to match and populate the correct users in your corporate databases with define user accounts. 
• Easily audit and report on user activities using Powertech Event Manager.

Incident Response

Establish an operational incident-handling capability for organizational systems that includes adequate preparation, detection, analysis, containment, recovery, and user response activities.

Track, document, and report incidents to appropriate officials and/or authorities both internal and external to the organization. This includes testing the organizational incident response policy.

How Fortra can assist:

• Incorporating software and services from Fortra into the incident response process provides faster and more consistent responses to operational threats. The Security Services team can perform Risk Assessments and POA&M guidance.
• Use Powertech Identity & Access Manager (BoKS) to accept authorized API-based configuration changes to lock down systems or user accounts tagged as misused or at risk.

Maintenance

Perform maintenance on organizational systems.

Provide effective controls on the tools, techniques, mechanisms, and personnel used to conduct system maintenance, including:

• Sanitizing equipment when it is taken off-site for maintenance or disposal
• Checking media containing diagnostics and test programs for malicious code before using it in the organization
• Requiring multi-factor authentication to establish non-local maintenance sessions
• Supervising the activities of maintenance personnel

How Fortra can assist:

• Collect and report on maintenance activities with Automate tasks.
• Prevent malicious code from entering the organization with Powertech Antivirus.
• Use Powertech Multi-Factor Authentication or Powertech RSA SecurID Agent for IBM i for multifactor authentication sessions.
• Use Powertech Identity & Access Manager (BoKS) to ensure only authorized users carry out maintenance activities. Require MFA authorization and keystroke logging to gain full visibility.

Media Protection

Protect (e.g. physically control and securely store) system media containing CUI, both paper and digital.

Limit access to CUI on system media to authorized users.

Sanitize or destroy system media containing CUI before disposal or release for reuse, including:

• Marking media with necessary CUI markings and distribution guidelines
• Controlling the use of removable media
• Prohibiting the use of portable storage when the devices have no identifiable owner
• Controlling access to media containing CUI and maintain accountability during transport

How Fortra can assist:

• Use Automate tasks and workflows to process and track media as it moves throughout the organization.
• Robot Save and BRMS protect and track media backups for IBM I systems.
• Robot HA and Power HA eliminate the need for physical backups by replicating data offsite for real time data redundancy and the use of VTL for electronic backups offsite.
• Use GoAnywhere MFT to securely retrieve and compile information from media devices. 

Personnel Security

Screen individuals prior to authorizing access to organizational systems containing CUI.

Ensure that CUI and organizational systems containing CUI are protected during and after personnel actions such as terminations and transfers.

Fortra can assist:

• Use Automate to onboard and provision users in a secure and managed fashion compliant with organizational policies. When users leave the organization, Automate ensures a clean and consistent exit process.
• Protect the integrity of organizational systems with Powertech Security Auditor and Powertech Event Manager.
• Use Powertech Identity & Access Manager (BoKS) to automatically provision and de-provision users to better secure your environment and help mitigate risks.

Physical Protection

Limit physical access to organizational systems, equipment, and the respective operating environments to authorized individuals.

Protect and monitor the physical facility and support infrastructure for organizational systems, including:

• Escorting visitors and monitor visitor activity
• Maintaining audit logs of physical access
• Enforcing safeguarding measures for CUI

How Fortra can assist:

• Use Powertech Identity & Access Manager (BoKS) to define location based access controls, using different credentials at different locations.
• Protect critical CUI data with Automate, Intermapper and Powertech Security Auditor.

Risk Assessment

Periodically assess the risk to organizational operations (including mission, functions, image, or reputation), organizational assets, and individuals, resulting from the operation of organizational systems and the associated processing, storage, or transmission of CUI. This includes ensuring that you can:

• Scan for vulnerabilities in systems and applications periodically and when new vulnerabilities affecting those systems and applications are identified
• Remediate vulnerabilities in association with their level of risk

How Fortra can assist:

• Scan systems and applications with Powertech Antivirus.
• Fortra Security Services team can perform penetration testing, risk assessments, and remediation and POA&M services.
• Find and prioritize security vulnerabilities with a free Fortra Security Scan.

Systems and Communications Protection

Monitor, control, and protect communications (i.e. information transmitted or received by organizational systems) at the external boundaries and key internal boundaries of organizational systems.

Employ architectural designs, software development techniques, and systems engineering principles that promote effective information security within organizational systems. This includes:

• Separating user functionality from system management functionality
• Denying network communication traffic by default and allow network traffic by exception only
• Terminating network connections associated with communication sessions at the end of the session or after a period of inactivity
• Implementing subnetworks for publicly accessible system components that are physically or logically separated from internal networks
• Encrypting CUI data in transit and at rest

How Fortra can assist:

• Document and assess security controls with Powertech Security Auditor.
• Use Intermapper to monitor and control the information flow on connected network devices.
• Use Powertech Exit Point Manager for IBM i to control CUI leaving IBM i partitions.  Secure data in transit with GoAnywhere and encrypt IBM i data at rest with Powertech Encryption for IBM i.
• Use the Security Services team to implement software, remediate deficiencies, and develop POA&Ms.
• Use Powertech Identity & Access Manager (BoKS) to build a role-based access management security policy that is consistent across your cloud infrastructure. Centrally define which specific network access protocols are supported and ban insecure protocols.
• Centralize log streams from operating systems, network devices, and other applications using Powertech Event Manager. Event Manager normalizes disparate data sources and provides alerts for security events.

System and Information Integrity

Identify, report, and correct information and system flaws in a timely manner.

Provide protection from malicious code at appropriate locations within organizational systems.

Monitor system security alerts and advisories and take appropriate actions in response, such as:

• Updating malicious code protection mechanisms when new releases become available
• Performing periodic scans of organizational systems
• Monitoring organizational systems including inbound and outbound traffic to detect attacks and indicators of potential attacks
• Identifying unauthorized use of organizational systems

How Fortra can assist:

• Protect systems from malicious code with Powertech Antivirus.
• Periodically scan and audit systems with Powertech Security Auditor and Fortra Security Scan and Risk Assessor for IBM i.
• Protect systems from attack by monitoring inbound and outbound traffic with Intermapper.
• Identify misuse by mining actionable data from audits and logs using Automate tasks.
• Better secure your environment, increase incident reaction time, and help mitigate identity-related risks with Powertech Identity & Access Manager (BoKS).
• Use Powertech Event Manager to detect security events in real-time from multiple data sources in a centralized response platform.