How to Use NIST SP 800-53 for Improved Third-Party Supply Chain Risk Management

The National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication (NIST SP) 800-53 is a widely adopted framework that many security professionals consider the foundation for all subsequent NIST information security controls. Currently on its fifth revision, NIST SP 800-53 focuses on security and privacy controls for information systems and organizations, also applicable to third-party vendors and suppliers.

With numerous organizations adopting SP 800-53 for their information security programs, this post examines the framework’s supply chain risk management controls and third-party risk management guidance and identifies best practice capabilities you can employ to meet NIST requirements for stronger third-party information security.

NIST and Third-Party Supply Chain Risks

NIST guidelines require organizations to develop a plan for managing supply chain risks by:

• Using formal risk management plans and policies to drive the supply chain management process
• Emphasizing security and privacy through collaboration in identifying risks and threats, and through the application of security and privacy-based controls
• Requiring transparency of systems and products (e.g., lifecycle, traceability, and component authenticity)
• Increasing awareness of the need to pre-assess organizations, and to ensure visibility into issues and breaches

How Prevalent Helps Address NIST SP 800-53 Supply Chain Risk Management Guidelines

Prevalent delivers a central, automated platform for scaling third-party risk management and cybersecurity supply chain risk management. With Prevalent, your team can:

• Build a best-practice third-party risk management program in line with your organization’s broader cybersecurity supply chain and enterprise risk management programs
• Leverage consolidated insights across multiple risk areas to automate RFx processes and make more informed supplier due diligence decisions
• Centralize the distribution, discussion, retention, and review of vendor contracts to ensure that key security requirements are included, agreed upon, and enforced with key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Build a single supplier inventory and gauge inherent risk to inform service provider profiling, tiering, and categorization – and determine the appropriate scope and frequency of ongoing due diligence activities
• Automate risk assessments and remediation across every stage of the third-party lifecycle
• Continuously track and analyze external threats to third parties by monitoring the Internet and dark web for cyber threats and vulnerabilities
• Automate contract assessments and offboarding procedures to reduce your organization’s risk of post-contract exposure
• Rapidly identify and mitigate the impact of service provider security incidents and breaches by centrally managing vendors, conducting event assessments, scoring identified risks, and accessing remediation guidance

For more on how Prevalent can help meet NIST guidelines request a solution demo today.